Herald of Steel



If Alexander sold his salt to Ptolomy and Farzah in bulk, then it would be those men who would be the main beneficiary of the lion's share of the profit.

After all, the most profitable part of a business was being the middleman, having no headache about production, or about selling the product to the customers.

So if Alexander used these men as a middleman for his product, he would not be able to sell the salt at a premium directly to the customers but these men would be.

Though it could also be argued that these men would also have to bear the cost and logistics of selling the salt inland.

As for option two, Alexander did have a large number of candidates to choose from.

There was Thesos with its vast number of city-states, there were the warring states to his south and there was even Thebias who were his immediate neighbors to name just a few.

But the problem with this was that Alexander did not have a strong navy or even a navy to speak off to protect these goods from pirates or other hostile powers, both foreign and domestic.

So if he wanted to do bulk trading he would have to rely on other powers' protection, like Ptolomy, Pasha Farzah, or even Cantagena.

And all of them would want a slice of the pie, and most likely a large one.

Hence Alexander was left with quite a dilemma.

A dilemma he was unable to resolve before his wedding day came.

On that day, Alexander woke up relatively late, around 10 pm, had a hearty breakfast and then started preparing to get ready for the wedding ceremony scheduled to be held in the afternoon as per Adhanian custom.

And funnily enough, when he was having breakfast, he had asked about Cambyses, to which one of the many maids had told him that Cambyses had been busy with her wedding preparations from almost dawn in Ophenia's room.

'Well I guess that's women for you,' Alexander had then commented, before going to his room for his own preparation.

And in there was Gelene, who happily said, "I'm glad these new clothes suit you master," as she helped Alexander put on his wedding dress.

Alexander put on a soft tunic he usually slept in as underwear as his very first layer of the garment.

Then came the armor- linen thorax, followed by chainmail.

This was standard practice for him as Alexander did not just never leave his manor without his armor.

In fact, he rarely left his room without it.

And he would even force his women to wear such similar protection, sometimes much to the chagrin of some of them, who would complain about the weight, heat, and general discomfort.

And one day, when Alexander was chastising Cambyse for not wearing her armor, as the freest of the bunch, she even angrily shot Alexander directly to his face, "For a man as big as you, you sure have a scaredy heart."

This had caused the couple to stop talking for almost a week.

Alexander thought back on these trivial tidbits as after the three layers of linen, leather, and metal came a light blue full-sleeved shirt.

And as he was putting it on, the happily mused, 'Thank goodness it's the middle of winter.'

If it had been even spring, not even summer, Alexander had no idea how he would have dealt with the heat wearing so many layers.

"This shirt is quite good. I'm impressed," Alexander praised as he felt the linen on his skin, while Gelene helped him tie his buttons.

He particularly liked these elliptical-shaped buttons, made of cast iron, and embedded with tiny gemstones, making them sparkle in the bright sunlight.

"Thank you, master," Gelene smiled as she finished buttoning the shirt and then handed him the waistcoat.

Gelene being here helping dress Alexander was an obvious choice as the girl getting married and this black beauty did not get along.

And so Cambyses was being dressed by Ophenia and Mean.

Alexander put on the jet black vest, but did not tie the button, as he asked, "Pass me that ribbon-like cloth."

Alexander was asking for his tie.

Gelene had been very curious how a man would use this ribbon when she was making the cloth, and quickly bought it to him, eagerly waiting to see its use.

And Alexander very expertly showed her its use, as he lifted his collar and skillfully put on the black tie, all while giving a detailed commentary of what to do, how to do it, and when to do it.

"*Clap*, *clap*, *clap*," Gelene could only wordlessly clap at the expert demonstration.

It seemed that her master had done this a million times.

Which was quite an accurate statement as putting on a tie had become a muscle memory or even almost a robotic action for Alexander.

Alexander centered his tie knot using a small, clear mirror in front of him, which was among the very first batch of such products his workshop had produced.

And as he was doing so, Gelene could not help but marvel at the mirror, "To think mirrors could be so clear and pretty!"

Satisfied with the tie's center, Alexander properly buttoned the vest and then at last put on his masterpiece- the suit.

Navy blue in color and thick, it was a typical suit that snuggly wrapped around the body as

Alexander paid particular attention to make sure the lapel or the collar of the suit was dead and centered, before checking his cuffs embroidered with three golden buttons to make sure they did not overlap fully with his shirt, leaving just a bit of the shirt out.

And as Alexander's top half was dressed, Gelene found her master in his current state very fetching.

She, or anyone for that matter had never seen such type of attire but still found it very charming.

This was in part because Alexander was physically quite handsome, with a strong body, chiseled face, and an impressive aura, making the suit metaphorically fuse with him.

But another part was because the suit was a derivation of the military uniform worn by European nobility, and the full sleeves, the thick clothing, and the tight fitting of the cloth gave off an imposing feeling similar to a suit of armor.

And in this time period, where military prowess was always revered, this naturally attracted the favor of the opposite sex.

After the suit, Alexander then quickly put on his pants over his linen trouser, them being just plain navy blue pants, thus matching the suit's color.

A belt with a silver buckle, and then lastly came the socks and polished leather shoes.

Surprisingly, the shoes of this time were not too different from those of the 21st century.

Nobles wore shoes made from leather or velvet, while peasants would use wooden shoes or even those made from tree bark.

But the basic shape and design were still the same, and as he tied the laces, he felt a nostalgic feeling, a feeling that he had returned to his time and that he was about to go to work, or a meeting, or a formal gathering.

A feeling he had missed very much.

"How do I look? Are there any creases?" After being done, Alexander lifted his arms and then even spun around to give Gelene a 360-degree view, asking for her opinion.

Alexander had asked all his clothes be ironed before he put them on.

And for that Alexander had even invented the world's very first iron.

It was just a kettle where hot water would be poured inside, the lid would be shut and then the flat bottom surface would work as a straightening surface.

And it did not need to be hot water too.

Coal, woodchips, or other kindling would work just as well.

"Perfect, master. Perfect. I have never such a dress suit someone so well!" Gelene had an excited, almost squeaky tone to her voice.

She loved the design of this 'suit' finding it very elegant.

And she was sure that once Alexander showcased this new type of cloth to the public, a market for this among the nobles would be instantly created.

A demand she very much planned to capitalize on.

And this was a part of Alexander's plan, to replace Adhania's cultures and customs with his own.

But while he liked this very suit quite a lot, he still a bit snobbishly regretted that it was a bit too mono color-ish.

Light blue shirt, black tie, and navy blue suit were all too close to each other, and though this would be perfectly fine with 99% of the populace, Alexander thought with his too refined a taste the suit was a bit bland.

As he wanted to show off the new clothes, Alexander originally wanted to make the suit much more flashy and colorful, with bright reds, blues, and whites.

But time and material constraints, as well as the unavailability of many colors made Alexander settle for this deep, almost authoritative color.

"Thank you. You did a great job with this new type of cloth. I'm impressed," Alexander replied with a smile to Gelene's compliments.

Then he put on some perfume made from various exotic oils like frankincense, opopanax, and myrhh, combed his hair back to give himself a sleek look, and afterward, with having nothing to do but wait for Cambyses to finish her dress up, decided to pour himself some diluted wine.

They would be required to go the Temple of Gaia together and so the lord pasha was forced to wait upon his lady, in a role reversal of the usual.

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