Herald of Steel



Laibak revealing just how casually he was able to get the crossbow caused Alexander to first have an appreciation for the simplicity yet effectiveness of his plan. 

And then came the headache.

This type of security breach should not have happened.

He had guessed the enemy would want a sample of his crossbow a long time ago and did take precautions to hinder exactly that.

But those precautions hinged on each of the people employed in all the verification steps to be diligent and honest.

And to help facilitate that Alexander had even made sure to give them better perks than the rest of the grunts.

But to think they would sell one of his most precious secrets for a mere 1,000 ropals?

Though it was not something Alexander had expected, still when it happened to him, he was a bit saddened. 

But that state of sadness did not last long. 

For following this sadness came a furious bout of rage.

Both the men involved were arrested and then interrogated about the truth, and once they confessed to all of Laibak's claims, were court-martial immediately without trial.

Their bodies hung on a prominent scaffolding around the barracks for all soldiers to see, with a plaque hung around their necks describing their crime- 

'For the crime of accepting bribes and trying to sell state secrets.'

And even their families were not spared.

Alexander had initially ordered their execution along with the men.

But after calming down a bit, he thought the family members should not be punished as heavily as the offender.

So he decreased it to all of them being sold into slavery for life, meaning these people would not be freed or redeem themselves. 

But after a while, after he saw the faces of the little shivering children who were able to be dealt a very cruel fate and remembering his own fate once, Alexander decreased the punishment further.

He simply stripped them of all the benefits they got due to being related to the military such as the affordable houses designated for service members located in the eastern military district, the army's daily rations as well as seizing the bribe amount, both in cash and good.

And then they were thrown out into the cold streets. 

And though this sounded better than being sold to slavery, that fact would be heavily argued.

Because by doing what Alexander had done, he basically left the two widows with numerous children destitute, with no homes, no money, and no job.

And though Zanzan was not like the other cities, where women had almost no opportunities to earn money without a man's help, as many could and did work in industries like papermaking, coal briquette making, brick making, etc. but even those were not easy as just turning up and getting employed.

Besides all these were owned by Alexander, and so for them to get a job, particularly with that colored record… well good luck

It was particularly bad for one of the widows because she was originaly from Thesos, having only come here under her husband's inviation.

Meaning unlike the other widow she had no father or brother or other relative's house to seek refuge with from the open sky, even if for only a little while.

And she certainly could not afford the ship fare back.

So for that woman, her man was gone, and she had nothing and no one to go to.

Even the neighbors she used to have so good relations with avoided her for fear of implicating their own husbands.

Alexander's fury was that great, being even felt by the lowest-level grunt.

So the only real way for her to keep her family going would be trying to find odd jobs like sweeping and cleaning other houses, sewing and knitting on the side, and even occasionally selling her body.

And even this scenario was painting quite an optimistic view, as the more likely outcome for the woman was that she would either become a full-time working girl or sell herself and a few or all her children to slavery.

And unfortunately, in this time period, the latter was the more common one.

Because working girls were in oversupply and very few were as beautiful as MK.

In this way, her fate became the same as Alexander had decreed before, with simply a few extra steps involved.

And though Alexander did not know of all this, even if he did, he would not care.

In fact, he might have even spread them, for he wanted to make an example out of the two.

And Alexander did not limit his punishment to only these two.

He made sure to punish a lot more people, almost everyone involved.

For instance, every one of the two guards' colleagues all got 20 canes for not detecting what the two were doing.

The supervisor responsible for keeping count of the crossbows got his pay docked for two months, a few of the officers got their rations reduced for the month and two unlucky ones even got personally lambasted by Alexander.

Those two being, as you might have guessed- Menes and Melodias.

"What are you two doing? I repeatedly told you to choose people that were trustworthy. Is that what counts as trustworthy to you! You blitterign idiots!" Alexander shouted almost vituperously during one of the council meetings.

While the two in question kept mute and a sullen face.

And Alexander did not just scold them.

He also made sure to show them why he was so upset.

So following his slight tirade, he then picked up one of the four items laid out on the table to make a point.

"Look! This is the cuirass my man who shot wore. Look at the hole! The bolt went straight through!" Alexander emphasized at the half an inch hole.

"And then it went through the chainmail, here!" He said while picking up the second item, 

"Then it pierced through the linen thorax! This hole here!"

"And then it stuck this much into his chest!" 

At his last point, he showed the bolt that had been retrieved from the man, whose blood-soaked tip and some bit of shaft were clear proof of how deep the shot had gone.

It went about two to three inches deep.

"Even when he was wearing all this, even when he donned the best armor we have because he was shot from so close, the bolt went this far."

"So what do you think happened to him?" Alexander then posed, looking around with a menacing glare at the table.

Naturally, no one had the guts to answer.

"He died. I got the confirmation this morning. The wound was too deep." Alexander flatly revealed. 

Yes!

The shot had been a fatal wound!

It did not kill him immediately, but the wound it created was a death sentence, a ticking time bomb.

The doctors had been unable to stop the internal bleeding or prevent the big wound from turning infectious, and the poor man died after suffering for three days.

It was a painful way to go.

But though the death of the man was tragic, it was not exactly because one bodyguard had died that Alexander was so furious.

It was because of how he died.

And the implication of that.

Which he described to all the council members.

"Now, I know that many of you might be confused as to why his death matters?" Alexander started.

"So let me ask you what would have happened if it not have been a simple bodyguard of mine, but me personally?"

"What would happen if I'm touring the markets or the construction sites, or simply moving through the crowd when one inconspicuous man walks up to me among the sea of people, crossbow hidden behind his back, and then suddenly shoots me?"

"Even with all my armor, it might not be enough to stop the bolt if fired from close enough."

"And even if it did not hit a critical organ, just the wound it created could turn gangrene and kill me!"

"And now imagine if that person was not me but you?" Alexander had an intrigued tone to his voice.

"Imagine you are simply going about your everyday job, working in the foundry, overseeing the construction of the aqueduct, visiting after the fields the peasants are working on, taking a stroll with your family, or a hundred different things…"

"When suddenly, an unknown, faceless peasant, displeased with something like the rent you are charging him comes and shoots you from 20…30…100 meters away."

"And you would have no way of knowing when this could happen!"

"You might not even see the shooter even as you die if he shoots from an alley or from the back!"

"Can you accept such an ever-present threat?" Alexander very pointedly posed.

And at his painting of such a vivid picture, the others finally understood why Alexander was so furious and their faces went pale.

Previously, like Alexander had said, they had not been able to quite comprehend why Alexander was reacting so much to the death of one bodyguard.

Sure it was tragic but they had also managed to catch a much bigger fish, the spy ring.

But now that Alexander had shown them why the way his bodyguard died was so concerning, their eyes were finally opened.

They had not thought about it like that.

Because subconsciously, since the crossbow did the same job as the bows, they had always seen the two as the one and the same.

While in reality, in some cases they were worlds apart!