Herald of Steel

(Sorry guys. Ch 957 got posted twice as both Ch 956 and Ch 957, I have uploaded the real Ch 956.

If something like this happens again, please @ me in discord.

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Agains, really sorry.)

In Adhania, as well as most of the parts around it, the pervading norm of the times was that women were by their very nature discriminated against for being 'less important than the men'.

And this mindset was made very prevalent by many of the customs of the time.

This generally only applied to the common folk, but women, for instance, were generally given access to lower quality food than their male counterparts.

This not only ranged from lower quality grains and such, even things such as the best part of meat or fish would always go to the patriarch of the family, followed by the sons and only once they had their fill, would it be the turn for those at the very bottom of the food chain- the mothers and daughters, who subsisted on the leftovers.

Furthermore, wives and daughters would also be given generally less food because they were usually weaker and smaller than their male counterparts so were assumed to have fewer needs.

Which was largely false, especially in the case of growing children.

And lastly, they were not allowed to drink wine and other delicious alcoholic beverages, in fear they would embarrass themselves in front of others.

Instead, they had water slightly mixed with vinegar to kill germs.

Although it was debatable whether the last part was actually a downside as not being heavy drinkers made the average woman last far longer than men.

But in general, the women were treated much poorly than their male counterparts and the sad part was that it was so ingrained into the society that no one even batted an eye towards them, as was the case with Jamiz and his family too.

Instead, for now, everyone instead focused on entertaining the returning four, placing heaps of bread and meat onto each of their plates, while relishing in all the adventurous tales they had to say.

Everyone at and around the table hung onto each and every word they said, and the four were more than happy to entertain, adding just a 'touch' of embellishment to their exploits.

"You should have seen how we took Thesalie! The pasha built a huge wall out of nothing and then…."

"We personally shot fireballs into the city. They were eh big! And when they flew, it lit up the sky! Like the sun!"

"It was under a pitch black night that we scaled the walls! Captain Pyanos personally led us! We cleared the wall and…."

"Once the city was taken, the Pasha even allowed us to sack it for three days. And by luck, all of us even got to taste three noblewomen! A mother and two of her daughters! Ramuh blesses us hah hah."

The four young men did not really hide or omit anything from their family, even the things they did when they sacked the city.

In fact, not only they did not have the slightest sculps over admitting what were undoubtedly confessions of their crimes, but they even euphorically bragged about it.

The act really went to show the vast different standards of the time.

And the response to their tale was also quite in tune with the times.

As upon hearing of this experience, there was no expression of horror or disgust from either the present men or even women.

Instead, there surfaced among their face expressions of pride among the women, for they saw the act of their brothers, sons, or husbands 'taking' a noblewoman as a great source of honor and bragging rights.

While the men produced slightly bitter faces at having missed such a great opportunity, wishing they could have been the ones doing that act.

The times Alexander lived in truly something 'special'.

Further evidenced by how upon hearing their act, the youngest of the six brothers even directly asked, "Big brother! Are noble women really as good as they say? Do they really smell like flowers down there? Are their boobs and ass really that soft?"

The boy's eyes sparkled with innocence and excitement as he looked at his brothers like heroes.

He had heard many things about noble women from various sources, some of it real, some of it dubious, be they from his friends, his brothers, older cousins, the songs bards sang in the tavern, as well as various advertisements by brothels who claimed that their girls had such and such characteristics just like a noblewoman.

And in response to the young boy's interest, his elder brothers were more than happy to delineate it, as they wanted to brag even more about their catch and show off to everyone how much they had enjoyed themselves, with one of them quickly putting a large grin on the face and nodding, "Of course! Let me tell you all about…."

"Bah! What are you brats talking about? This is a place for eating!" However, the family seemed to have at least this much decorum, as seeing how dirty the conversation was going, the head of the family finally stepped in at the last minute to put a stop to it, scolding all his sons with a gruff bark.

And then put a lid on the whole entirely, by turning to the youngest one to glare menacingly, "And you stupid brat! Where did you learn these words? And why are you saying these words so openly? Has seeing your brothers rotted your head!"

Jamiz was okay with his sons discussing their exploits on the battlefield, which naturally would include the mentions of such acts.

That was fine.

But that was also where he drew the line.

They could mention it, but nothing more.

And as the old man made that clear, the young boy quickly lowered his head in fear, feeling slightly hurt.

He really wanted to know.

Although his heart quickly soared when one of his returning brothers lightly lowered his head and whispered the promise with a wink,

"Don't be sad, brat. Since you are so curious, I will tell you all about it later. In fact, I will do one better I will take you to Lillith's Touch tomorrow! Then you can see it for yourself. It will be my treat."

Lillith's Touch was the name of the red house that Alexander established, where Mikaya used to 'perform', and was considered the best red house in the entire city, if not the entire province,

It was also rumored the house was connected to the pasha, and that all the women in the house were fallen noble ladies.

Due to this, and in keeping with its reputation, it was very, very expensive.

But that price hardly deterred any of the many, many aspiring young men of Zanzan from dreaming to be one day being able to afford a room there.

And naturally, the young boy was no different.

Hence his heart was set aflutter by the promise and so excited was he that he even had to restrain himself from jumping up and shouting in glee.

While the main man of the house, Jamiz had his interest picked up something else one of his sons said, and then commented with a touch of nostalgia,

"So Pyanos has become a Captain! Ahhh, how times change. It seems just like yesterday that we were fighting shoulder to shoulder back in Adhan. Hah hah, how time flies."

Jamiz had been levied to fight against Amenheraft all the way back then.

And it was there the two men met, where they were part of the same unit.

But after the battle, the two men took very different paths, one choosing to join the establishment, the other leaving it.

And it seemed seeing his once colleagues rise through the ranks, a feeling of bitterness swelled in the other man's mouth, regretting the missed opportunity.

Which was compounded by his third son's 'insensitive' remark, "You too could have become one if you stayed in the military, father. Why did you leave? We would have been much better off than now!"

The tone here was more than just a bit accusatory, as the son felt his promotion in the military would have been far smoother if he had a father in a senior position.

And he was joined by another of his brothers, who shared a similar sentiment, nodding and saying,

"Yeah, Uncle Pyanos's son is already a squad captain. I heard he is even being considered for a sergeant. And here we are, still regular soldiers! *Sigh*!"

And towards all these 'complaints' and very implicitly being called a coward, Jamiz could find no answer, as his face was seen to be visibly shrinking.

'Perhaps it was a mistake to retire!' He thought to himself.

"You stupid brats! What are you saying to your father?" However just as the old man was beginning to sink into a pool of self doubt and shame, the one to come to his defense in his time of need was none other than his wife, who joined the conversation with this shout.

And then lightly slapping the heads of the two who had made that remark, cried,

"If your father had not used all the loot he had gotten from that battle and used it to set up this business, you poor brats would be orphans. Is your father as young as Pyanos? And do you think Pyanos would become captain without your father's help? He is the one who paid for that!"

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