Herald of Steel



In the nobles' eyes, someone so out of touch with the happenings of Adhania was a dead man walking.

Even Maizdy, who had been quietly simmering up until now could not help but let out a guffaw of disdain,

'To think there could be someone this stupid,' He spat out in his heart.

And since Alexander did not know about the Jahal mercenaries, and as the nobles held no real love for Alexander, they decided to let him know their true horror on the battlefield.

And so only gave a surface introduction, "The Jahal mercenaries are a mercenary group from Kuleef. Officially they mostly help keep their employer's land trade routes safe. Hence the large use of cavalry."

"But really they belong to Pasha Djose, the ruler of Kuleef. And they help him maintain his hold over the trade routes around Kuleef. " Kyamin revealed an open secret.

'Djose! Where have I heard that name?' Hearing that familiar name, Alexander ruffled through the pages of his memory, to finally recollect his conversation with Pasha Farzah he once had in Adhan.

"Hmm, this Pasha Djose, is he the king's brother?" Alexander asked wanting to confirm this suspicion, and after the nod of affirmation from Kyamin, many of the things he had doubts about this whole thing began to fall into place.

"So that's it, heh!" Alexander could not help but let out a smirk at having figured what all this was out

"Did my lord figure it out?" Melodias from the side curiously posed.

Alexander considered hiding his deduction from the nobles as he did not want them to know his hand,, but given that dead men tell no tales, and assuming that if he showed he knew their plans, they would open up more, decided to answer.

"Yes. just now I did." He began with a nod, feeling curious, attentive gazes from all sides, both from the soldiers and the nobles, as he gave his thoughts, "This attack is not one of Amenheraft's, but came from his brother, Djose, who is Pasha of Kuleef, and for those who do not know our neighbor."

Alexander's bold claim made Melodias raise his eyebrows in surprise, while the most intense reaction came from Maizdy, who actually knew the inside story.

And his shock continued to accrue, as he heard Alexander recount, "Back in Adhan, I and the king beheaded Djose's son. And Pasha Farzah had warned me back then that the man would certainly seek revenge."

Alexander then continued with a shake of his head "But I did not think he would be that impatient. I don't even believe he has received the money from Ptolomy. What a hot-tempered man, no wonder his son ran away from him, hehehe."

At the end of his speech, Alexander let out a breezily, easy chuckle that surprised the nobles.

Not only because of the clear deduction but also because of how unfazed he appeared to be even knowing he was facing a Pasha.

This was a real Pasha, not the self-styled, playing house with just one city Pasha like himself,

Someone capable of turning their blood freeze with just a sentence.

They did not know whether to label Alexander ignorant or arrogant.

But what they did not know was that they were the ignorant ones, as Alexnder had fought against actual their king three times just in the last three months.

And he had won two times.

And won decisively at that.

So what was one measly Pasha to him?

"So, the man is impatient to the point of not caring about the treaty? Can he influence Amenheraft that much?" Melodias sounded surprised, adding, "I remember My lord reasoning the former king was broke and would not risk breaking the treaty before getting his money. So who is the real king here, him or Djose?"

Melodias's frank question made the seven nobles, yes even Maizdy blush.

They had been angered at first by this lowly commoner addressing their ruler so rudely, but then could only feel ashamed by how openly they were talking about his weakness.

This was their god-king he was talking about.

And to hammer this point home, Alexander answered with even more brutally honest comments, "Losing so many nobles in the last battle has probably meant that Amenhearft has lost a lot of prestige among his retainers. In addition to that, being broke must have not helped. I suscept he can't control his men as well as used to. And this war might have been started arbitrarily by a faction without Amenheraft's express permission."

Alexander's words felt like nails in Maizdy's heart, because the situation was just as Alexander said.

Though the nobles still respected Amenheraft, there were signs of some of them slipping, with the once monolithic block fracturing into three particularly distinct groups that were slowly taking shape.

There were the ultra-loyalists who believed in Amenheraft as the God-king and acted exactly as he decreed.

The most popular faction, and one that was rapidly gaining momentum- The moderate or neutral faction, who were primarily tempted by Ptolomy's promise that they would not be left alone if they stayed neutral.

And lastly, the hardliners who wanted war and as of now, more importantly, revenge.

And though this fracture was not critical yet, the signs were already beginning to manifest.

"Meaning to say that Amenheraft can no longer guarantee the unholding of the treaty?" Melodias expertly picked up on the implications of Alexander's words.

"Hmm, no, not exactly," Alexander gently shook his head, reasoning, "The money we offered to give would make anyone wanting to break the treaty a lot of enemies. Even from his allies, "

He then hypothesized, "I remember Pasha Farzah saying that Kuleef was Adhania's biggest port and the richest province after Adhana and Matrak. So possibly he offered Amenheraft personally a lot of money. Maybe even emptying out his entire treasury because he loved his son so much." Alexander said so by raising his thumb,

"Or" Alexander then raised his index finger to say, "And this is the more likely thing, they don't think attacking me will destroy the treaty!"

This remark made many surprised and shocked.

What did he mean by that?

Alexander was very much an alliance pillar of Ptolomy and one for whom his two allies would presumably go to war to defend.

But Alexander explained succinctly, "Because I think Amenheraft believes that Adhan and Matrak are too weak to break the truce even if he blatantly crosses the terms. He and his people must believe that Adhan and Matrak can be appeased or even cowered to observing the treaty even after destroying me."

Surprisingly, Alexander found that the imminent attack on him was also due to the same reason he dared to attack Jabel- Because one side believed that the other side would want peace rather than war after fighting for so long, thus securing the treaty.

"They are really looking on down us, huh?" Melodias let out a bitter-toned murmur, as he turned to look at Maizdy and ask, "Is what my lord said true?"

"....." The large man only turned his head, quite a difficult task given he was pinned to the floor.

While his heart betrayed his stoic facade for it beat frantically, 'What amazing deduction! Father needs to know this. I hope one of these idiots can relay this conversation to him.'

Maizdy had already given up on his life, and now his only wish was that his father would become weary of this cursed star.

While in the meantime, Maizdy's refusal to answer, was all the confirmation the group needed.

Events were happening most likely as Alexander had described.

"I presume that those ships you were talking about will be Djoser's?" It appeared that seemingly a long time later, Alexander had decided to finally let the nobles into the conversation.

"Ye..yes," Came the hesitant reply, which was followed by this question from Alexander,

"Jahal mercenaries and Kuleef ships. You are still telling me that you do not know who is attacking me?" He then sneered, accusing them of lying.

"My lord, the mercenaries only make up only 10,000 of the 40,000 to 50,000 men. And the only others we know of would have come from Jamider (Earl) Nibbar," Kyamin slanted his eye towards the dead man indicating that the number now may vary, before adding, "That still leaves a lot of others we don't know about."

This noble was at least clever enough to cover his hide.

"Yes, that's right. For all we know the mercenaries and the ships could have been hired. They are mercenaries and ships after all," And that noble named Latif cover his fellow colleague this time by emphasizing the reason.

He did not want to see another crossbow bolt lauch.

This all sounded possible, as so Alexander moved to the last topic that was bothering him,

"Okay, one last thing to ask before I release you," He said, "That 40,000 to 50,000 men army. Why that many?"

Alexander's question appeared incomplete as the nobles look at him fluxed, so he expounded,

"What I mean is that though 40,000-50,000 sounds like a lot, Zanzan's walls are formidable. Seems pretty low for a siege. And how can ships carry enough food for a prolonged one? Can anyone explain?"

A city as big as Zanzan, with high walls and 150,000 people ready to defend it, would be a very nut to crack, especially with the primitive siege methods.

So Alexander was implying that there was a rat here, who likely made the incorrect assumption that Zanzan was the same ghost they had left it and then passed this information on to Amenheraft.

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