Herald of Steel



Grahtos, being the overall cavalry commander where Laykash served, as well as knowing the man as a fellow Thesian from his hometown of course had a particularly strong sense of brotherly commadry for him.

Thus at Mithriditus's ominous words, he could not help but lose control of his emotions.

While Alexander being of a much more rational mind, only turned to one of the guards and asked,

"Please ask Laykash to come here. Let's see what he has to say."

Though internally he was still unable to think of a reason why Laykash would want to return.

At least if this had been a magical world Alexander might have guessed something uncreative as a binding contract or a slave seal.

But there was no magic in this world.

Or at least there was no proof it which he had come across with his own eyes, though superstitious belief about a dozen of such stuff was dime a dozen.

And so drawing blanks, he ultimately decided to wait and see.

And a while later the once strong, strapping man entered the tent with slow, steady steps, his cheeks now shrunken into his face and eyes hollow, body thin and flaky due to malnutrition as he seemed weak and haggard.

"Laykash, I'm sorry to disturb your rest, but it seems Tibias wanted to exchange you for someone. But that person is likely dead and they want you to return with them. What do you say?"

Alexander very succinctly explained the reason for his call.

"Ah!" And hearing so Laykash let out an involuntary exclamation where his disappointment was palpable.

"I do know about that. In fact, I was allowed to come here on the condition that I could only be realized if they successfully managed to get a certain person."

"And if they could not, I had to return with them. I was made to swear to the gods on those terms before coming here." Laykash revealed.

Yes, that was Philips's grand plan.

He had approached the cell Laykash was being held in and explained the gist of the situation, though he hid the king's intention to brutally torture him to death soon, thinking that might dissuade him from coming back.

And as Mithriditus heard how Philips spun the story to Laykash, one of a pure prisoner exchange, and the solemn oaths he made Laykash take, both to the gods and to his soul, the old man was quite assured of the plan's efficacy.

In this time period, people believed preserving one's soul was just as important as preserving one's body, and given the heavy oaths Laykash was made to take, Mithriditus had to admit it was quite a good way to ensure the prisoner would indeed come back with him if things failed.

Of course, the old man had even then tried to back out of such a dangerous task, saying,

"Your Highness, umm…this old man's body is ummm,"

But Philips then very casually threatened, "If you do not try to get Theony back, I will tell my father that you intentionally hid the prisoner from him."

"And if you do get back Theony, I will look out for you and your family."

This carrot and stick from his future king put Mithriditus in a tough spot, as he weighed the danger of being on bad terms with his 'to be liege' against the potential benefits.

And at last, greed won.

Which caused him for the moment to seem like he had rolled a bad die.

While his counterparted Alexander hearing Laykash's excuse was stunned.

'That's it? A verbal promise? Nothing else? Like family hostage? Or even the lives of his men?' He could not believe himself.

Of course, Alexander had considered that Laykash might have been made to swear to the gods.

But to him it seemed so flimsy that he had immediately trashed the idea, not taking it even a bit seriously.

So now reading Laykash's body language that seemed to say he intended to fulfill his promise, Alexander did not know what to say.

"...,,,"

Hence there was a slight pause in the room.

And it was only after a while when Alexander had managed to get his thoughts together that he began, "....Laykash that promise, you were forced to do so under duress, right? Surely that makes it invalid. There is no need for you to follow it." Alexander reasoned.

In fact, after hearing Laykash's excuse and determining from his body language that he really intended to go along with it, Alexander fought the urge to loudly yell,

'Laykash, man this is ancient times! We burn, loot, rape and plunder lands with no thought.'

'We slaughter entire cities- men, women, children, Sometimes we even chop their pets.'

'If you can do all that, you can break a promise.'

To Alexander, it appeared utterly bizarre how a man could do all that without blinking an eye but think breaking a promise was too much.

But this was the difference in mindset between Alexander and the people of this time, who took anything related to the gods extremely seriously.

So even when Alexander provided Laykash with a way out, the latter refused to take it, answering with rueful shakes of his head, "No my lord, I'm afraid I cannot. I swore to the gods upon my soul and I must follow it. Or have myself eternally darned."

The Laykash seemed adamant.

"Hehe," And hearing so Mithriditus could not stop himself from giving that same disgusting chuckle, relieved that at least this gamble had paid off.

"....." And Alexander reflexively pursed his lips.

There was really no way to reason Laykash out of this Alexander felt.

But even then, unwilling to let Mithriditus win, he tried one last time, deciding to use theology against theology, and saying,

"If you are worried about your soul, I can specifically pray to the goddess for you. The combined force of God Ramuh and Goddess Gaia is sure to be stronger than the gods of Tibias…"

"Please do not utter such blasphemous words, my lord!" Before Alexander could finish his sentence, Mithriditus loudly interjected, the anger in his voice very obvious.

It seemed that the old man was quite touchy when it came to the matter of the divine.

"I would ask you not to bring the powers of the unseen in this discussion. Your man has sworn an oath and he must fulfill it."

"There will be, there can be no two way about it."

This was the first time since the negotiations started that Alexander had seen the old man so determined.

"......" While Alexander was more interested in Laykash's reaction, choosing to ignore the other, for what Mithriditus said really did not matter.

And as for the opinion of the man which did matter, he was silent, showing tacit support for Mithriditus.

'Welp!' And seeing so Alexander could only relent.

He was half frustrated at Laykash for not playing ball since if he did, he could have extracted a lot of information from Theony, especially now that he was certain that boy was a high-ranking noble.

But he was also half impressed at Laykash for sticking to his word.

At least Alexander did not think he himself would have been so forthright in his deals, especially when it meant going back to a cold, enemy prison.

Hence this went to show Laykash was a man of his word, and Alexander was of course very pleased to have such a trustworthy subordinate.

"I see." Hence seeing Laykash's unflinching answer Alexander leaned back on his chair, and then slowly turning to Melodias, instructed.

"Could you once again check the prison camp for this Theony? Make sure the guards there didn't make any mistake?"

"And if he is still alive could you bring him here?"

If Theony was really dead, Alexander would have certainly tried harder to make Laykash stay.

But since they had the man, Alexander decided to spare himself the needless pain.

He had tried quite hard to swindle Mithriditus but it did not work.

'Right away my lord," And hearing the task and understanding the jig was up, Melodias was instantly up and quickly left the building.

While Mithriditus was first a bit confused about the sudden complete turn of events, even thinking back on what they said about Alexander, 'Didn't they say you didn't make mistakes?'

But he then quickly woke to the ruse they were trying to pull off.

'So that's how was it,' Having understood it, Mithriditus was internally ecstatic because he was now 99% sure Theony was actually alive and the other party knew it.

So his eyes subconsciously darted to the door to try and catch the earliest glimpse of Theony, while in the meantime Alexander wanted to know a few more tidbits about Tibias from the man.

So he said, "Lord Mithriditus, while we wait, why don't we talk a bit more? I believe there is a lot more to discuss between us other than just two prisoners."

And this put Mithriditus in a tough spot.

He had officially introduced himself as someone visiting under the orders of the king.

Whereas he was really a rouge, trying to attempt a clandestine prisoner exchange unbeknownst to Perseus.

So even if he and Alexander discussed other matters such as a peace treaty, further prisoner exchanges, war compensation, etc. all those would be quite hollow.

But just because Mithriditus was unable to make any decisions did not mean he could not talk right?

There was nothing wrong with just that.

"Yes, let's." And so Mithriditus enthusiastically replied, intent on dragging anything Alexander said out until he could Theony and make his escape with empty promises.