Herald of Steel



The current shortage of learned men that Alexander was facing was something very maddening to him.

Many projects were unable to start or even if they did, were inefficient due to a lack of qualified personnel, as not being able to produce the required paperwork meant that Alexander could use the date to make informed future decisions.

So he was very eager to start his public schools and general education, for though that would not instantly remedy his problems, at least he could start making the medicine to solve that problem for the future.

But all these exciting developments were still some time in the future.

For now, though, Alexander returned his focus to pay attention to the people who had invited him into their house and exchanged some pleasantries.

"Ah! I'm so embarrassed at having come empty-handed. Truly a grave breach of etiquette, a grave breach." Alexander said exaggeratedly waving his arms animatedly.

As Lord Nuraman from the side jokingly chuckled, 

"Yes, yes. That is why as punishment Lord Alexander must drink the most today, haha."

"We bought our special wine from Agnirat that you simply must taste."

"Come, come." The lord of the house then ushered Alexander to the back half of the house, the place reserved for friends and family.

He was truly being cordial to Alexander. 

Before joining the luncheon, Alexander freshened himself up, cleaning his face, arms, and legs, and wetting his head to fight the blistering heat, before being personally led by the man of the house to the private dining table, where he was given the seat of honor at the head of the table.

Alexander of course tried to decline this by saying that as the senior, Lord Nuraman should have the privilege.

But the old man was adamant, saying peerage trumped all.

Hence Alexander got the honor while Lord Nuraman and Kayvan sat on either side, each accompanied by their respective wives.

And then without further ado, food and wine started to flow without restraint, as Alexander was served various kinds of Adhanian traditional dishes composed of meat, fish, and vegetables served with several types of bread.

There were stewed and fried fish of various kinds, roasted and broiled meat of rare and exotic flavors, and fried and salted seasonable vegetables to go along with at least five different types of bread.

At one moment, Alexander even took the time to try and count the number of items on the table but could go only up to thirty before losing track.

The entire luncheon very much felt like being in a medieval feast.

And as the chief guest, he was asked to taste all.

A task he found to be very daunting.

Though he was helped by the unique wine they served, which in much contrast to the sweet ones usually given, was a hard, spicy one, one which stung the throat a bit when gulped.

And though usually would have been a bad thing, with all the meat, and fish being eaten, somehow this wine helped to stimulate the throat and energize it, cleaning the gullet and coaxing it to eat more and enjoy the feat.

"Lord Nuraman, you were not kidding! This wine really deserves to be a specialty," Alexander had praised as he gulped it down by the cups, much to Lord Nuraman's approving delight.

And as soon as his cup was emptied, Lord Nuraman's newest concubine, Akisha, would be there to refill it.

That was why she did not sit down with the rest of the party to eat but instead stood right beside Alexander like a diligent maid, making sure her guest's plate was never short of any food and that his wine cup was never empty.

She paid special attention to the latter, because the faster the host could refill his guest's cup, the greater hospitality it showed in Adhania.

Furthermore, she also provided Alexander with more than just food, she also provided him with some entertainment in the form of eye candy.

Alexander quickly noticed that the sexy woman had significantly loosened the gown around her bust from the first time he saw her, so much so that it let Alexander have a tantalizing view of her deep, milky ravine every time she bent over to pour him a glass of wine, as well as hitting him with a rosy fragrance.

Alexander must have drunk twice or even thrice the amount of wine just to get that view and smell that sweet perfume again and again, by the end of which Alexander was intoxicated enough where he could only barely stop himself from grabbing those fruits right in front of everybody and start playing with them.

If this had been Lord Nuraman's tactic to get Alexander drunk, it had worked fantastically, and only Alexander's iron will and sense of shame developed in his previous life kept him from committing such socially infelicitous acts.

Of course, Alexander did not simply sit at the table gorging on food, getting drunk, and staring at cleavages.

He also made sure to socialize.

Alexander got to know about the details of Lord Nuraman's own family, listened to some of his life stories, and to reciprocate, shared a bit of his own, like how he took Adhan from Amenheraft.

"Ahh, it is a shame Lady Cambyses could not join us," And for his part, Lord Nuraman also talked about Alexander's family like this, to which Alexander promised to bring them around 

Alexander also talked with Kayvan, asking about his father, his 'famous in certain parts of Zanzan' sister, and even his two nieces who were staying with him.

Alexander was very well aware that Pasha Farzah had sent his son to check up on Azura and Azira as a side project.

"My father is well. He wanted to come personally to meet you, my lord, but the pressures of a prime minister are really a lot. He just could not manage the time," The handsome man, with that characteristic silver hair validating his Matrak bloodline breezily replied as he drank his chicken soup.

"Yes, yes, I saw it personally when I visited him. Being the right hand of the king is hard work."

"And besides, Zanzan is quite far from Adhan. Given your father's age, it best he does not exert himself too much."

Alexander casually replied, though given the man was touching close to sixty, he did fear he might suddenly have a heart attack and collapse.

Such examples were dime a dozen, especially given after crossing the age of 50, one's mortality rate jumped to 50 %.

So Pasha Farzah dying in the near future was really a coin flip, a dangerously high possibility.

A possibility which if were to come true would be very inconvenient for Alexander, as he was yet to meet and bond with Farzah's successor, meaning deals would be much harder to reach with the latter.

Sure, Alexander had heard about Pasha Farzah's eldest son from both him and Mikaya and even knew some of the things he did for him, such as many of the goods Pasha Farzah had promised Alexander were actually arranged under that man's supervision.

But given the man was busy ruling Matrak in his father's stead. Alexander was yet to get the chance face-to-face.

Meaning that familiarity that existed with the old man simply was not present with his successor.

And Alexander really did not know how to bridge that gap either.

According to Mikaya, the entire roundtrip from Zanzan to Matrak, including the duration of the stay would take almost five to six months, thus requiring Alexander to set aside almost half the year just for that meeting.

Alexander had much better things during that time, so clearly, that was not possible.

And it seemed his counterpart felt the same way, which was why the two men, though aware, had never written or spoken a single word to each other.

So when Alexander casually commented about Pasha Farzah's health, a part of him also began to hope that this did not come to bite him in the near future.

"Haha, yes, yes, I always tell him to pay a bit more attention to his health. But does he listen…." At Alexander's reminder, Kayvan chuckled and lightly shook his head in amusement.

And then the conversation moved to Azira and Azura, with Alexander asking how he found his nieces, knowing what the man wrote to Pasha Farzah regarding it would be critical in determining the old man's opinion of him.

The first time Alexander had written to Pasha Farzah describing the result of the war and its aftermath, especially regarding the fate of his manor, the old man had been so furious that his two granddaughters were put in danger that the vituperative letter was really written out of only curses.

'You…sewer rat….you promised…how dare you,,,,you cur…I will slaughter…'

This small exert was actually from a more civilized part of the letter.

And reading it, Alexander was half amused and half afraid, dreading to think what the old man would have done if he was actually present in front of him.

Perhaps he would have been straggled right then and there.

Pasha Farzah had even formally asked Alexander to return the two to him, claiming Zanzan was too dangerous for them.

And it was only with the twins personally writing a letter to him, urging him that they wanted to stay and that they were never in danger that the old man, seeing that distinctive handwriting reluctantly changed his mind.

But even then he sent his son to go see the situation for himself.