Herald of Steel

Alexander then spent the rest of the meeting talking about general miscellaneous things.

For example, he asked Menicus to plan setting up more food stations to accommodate the coming refugees.

He asked Harun to start making more bronze blades for the new plows they would need come March.

And Diaogosis was instructed to start making the wooden plows.

"Speaking of plows, we will need enough daft animals to pull them. Eighty thousand (80,000) of them to be exact." Alexander spoke out aloud.

Then turning to Heliptos ordered, "I'm putting you in charge of acquiring more. We only have twenty thousand (20,000) in total so you are to acquire an additional eighty thousand (80,000)."

Hearing this mammoth task, Heliptos turned deathly pale and struggled to keep his frightful scream from emanating outward.

"My lord...that…ummm…" He squirmed and bent his head and neck as his sycophantic instincts and his realistic instinct fought on how to try and explain to Alexander the impossibility of acquiring such huge quantities of animals within March, which was just five months away.

"You don't have to do it this year. You have till spring of next year." Alexander was not a tyrant and this timeline bought some water back to the economic minister's heart.

Though it was a lot a ton of time, it was still generous.

"I will try my hardest," Heliptos dutifully nodded.

"Mmmm, seek out any large merchants and guilds as you wish. Even foreign ones will do." Alexander gave the permission.

And with this, he finally noticed that it was well past noon already, almost approaching late afternoon, with the meeting lasting almost eight hours.

So finally, much to the other's relief decided to end the meeting, "Well gentlemen, I think that's it for today."

"Sorry for taking up so much time today, and thank you for bearing it with me." He finished.

"No, no, it was our pleasure." The men naturally politely replied.

"Mmm, then that's it for today," Alexander repeated.

"And tomorrow I will be coming on a tour of the city with all my civilian ministers. That includes you Harun, Krishok, Diagnosis- the whole lot of you." Alexander listed.

"It will be our greatest honor," Harun as the representative quickly said.

"And so there will be no council meeting," He announced, which to the men felt like the teacher was saying there will be no school tomorrow.

Joy!

Utter joy!

"Then we will see you the day after tomorrow."

"Please take care, my lord,"

These saying were quickly uttered by everyone and after giving Alexander a bow, they showed themselves out.

Except for Theocles, which by this point had become a normality.

But by now Alexander was in no mood to listen to his archpriest's report on the temple's state. His head was feeling jammed and his stomach was very angry.

This was because though he had eaten a hearty breakfast of large slices of freshly baked bread, cheese, and eggs with an assortment of various fruits right at the crack of dawn, nothing had entered his stomach afterward to replace them till now, close to a whole twelve hours.

And all while, he had been constantly at work or going to and fro from his work, from the morning speech in front of the temple to entertaining the guests at the temple, to the long council meeting that just finished.

And so instead of continuing the conversation, Alexander with a cordial smile invited Theocles, "I know it's very late, but join us for lunch."

By 'us' here Alexander was of course referring to him and Cambyses.

"It would be my honor, Your Holiness." The offer was quickly and graciously accepted by Theocles, as evidenced by using the words Your Holiness.

He would always address Alexander as such whenever they were alone, away from prying eyes and ears.

With this invitation accepted, the trio quickly exited the second-floor hall room and was escorted downstairs to a guest dining room where delicacies such as roast chicken, succulent trout, boiled eggs, and a bevy of both cooked and raw winter vegetables such as broccoli, beans, and lettuce slices were at once presented to them.

"So how much did we get from the temple?" Alexander greedily asked as he formed a makeshift sandwich containing shredded chicken, small slices of egg, and a variety of vegetables.

"Not much I'm afraid Your Grace," Theocles had a regretful tone to his voice, "Only around thirty million ropals."

"Oh? That is quite low." This was said by Cambyses, who in a surprised tone asked, " I thought we would get more. Wasn't Zanzan suppose to be the provincial capital and Pasha Muazz's city?"

It seemed like her husband, Cambyses too had gotten a taste for banditry.

"Yes, we were surprised by it too," Theocles admitted, saying, "Though we never expected the haul to be even close to Adhan's ten billion, Adhan's grand temple's status is in a league of its own after all, but it's still too low. A billion would have been a more appropriate amount, or at least five hundred million."

Theocles seemed very puzzled by this amount and worse, it was not like he could ask the temple priests or priestesses about it on the account of them being dead.

And even if he had the supernatural ability to talk to the deceased, he doubted the clergymen would have looked too kindly seeing their money being stolen.

"Hmmm, I guess we have to thank Muazz's goons and all the people who left the city to thank for that." Alexander hypothesized where all the money went, regret filling his voice.

Then he thought, 'I should arrange an auction for those damn paintings of Muazz and his ancestor to recoup some of my losses,' though he knew hosting such an event and attracting the required personnel with sufficient heavy pockets would take at least a few years.

This was because a minimum of that amount of time would be needed to transform the current tattered city of Zanzan into something respectable enough to hold such a grand occasion.

"I believe that Your Holiness is most likely right," Theocles too shared Alexander's thoughts and expressed his support with repeated nods.

"Well I guess some money is better than none," Cambyses tried to look at the bright side of things and this drew wry smiles from both the men.

Afterward, Alexander asked about general things regarding his religion to Theocles, ranging from the temple renovation to the progress of writing the religious scriptures, to policies regarding attracting new believers.

"Do not compete with the Ramuh faith regarding followers," Alexander instructed Theocles to keep his religious zeal in check for the time being, saying, "For now, concentrate on forming a small but very loyal and pious group of followers. They will be the seeds we will use to spread out religion in the future and so emphasize quality over quantity."

"As you wish my lord," Theocles took heed and replied affirmatively.

"Umm, but also this does not mean we should not try to spread our faith." Alexander clarified, saying, "We will of course try to gain new followers by providing perks and rewards to new converts."

"For example, the thirty million ropals we got will be given to the refugees as a merciful grant from the goddess. That will get us some new followers," Alexander cunning planned.

Hearing such huge financial support was on the way, Theocles was naturally enthusiastic and so smiled and replied, "Your Grace is wise and the goddess is boundless in her mercy."

"Umm," Alexander gave a short hum at the expected answer and then promised, "I will personally open the temple on the first day of next month, and hold my wedding with Cambyses there on the first of January."

"....." The large news was shocking enough to make Theocles lose his words for a moment, causing Cambyses to comment, 'There is his bad habit again, saying hugely important things like he is simply breathing air.'

"Hahaha congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations my lord!" Recovering himself just a little bit later, Theocles quickly and very animatedly applauded Alexander, saying the word congratulations repeatedly to emphasize the point.

Although Alexander and Cambyses were considered a couple, and everyone knew about it, they themselves never explicitly declared it, and so hearing the confirmation of it filled Theocles with joy.

A wide grin forced on his face at this announcement, as he was happy not only that the humble building he chose would be the place that his lord would be making his marriage venue, but also over the fact that marriages were usually followed by children.

The mere thought of seeing a god's offspring, the thrill of being soon able to look after and take care of a god's descendant, and the thought that his god's bloodline on earth would soon be secure was a feeling Theocles could confidently say he had not experienced ever before.

And then, quickly thinking about the person who will actually be giving birth to them, Theocles said the same thing to Cambyses, "Congratulations my lady. Congratulations, for the gods have answered my lady's prayers."

As Cambyses's former boss, Theocles certainly knew of the girl's desires towards Alexander and thus knew that this was dream come true for her.

​ "Thank you, my lord. Please keep us in your prayers," Cambyses replied with a gentle smile.

And in this way, amidst this warm atmosphere, the luncheon ended, with Theocles bidding his goodbye, saying, "Well my lord. Please let me excuse myself."

"And once again congratulations on your engagement. I'll make sure the marriage ceremony is a perfect success."

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