Herald of Steel

Chapter 967

Prince Perikles stayed in the library for almost the remainder of the day, sitting around a table near the corner, away from most prying eyes, and going through the section detailing Adhania's history.

It was a topic that he did not have much familiarity with and thus wanted to catch up.

And here, one of the specific mentions that he wished to view was information about Alexander.

Because the prince suddenly came to the realization that despite the man's name being almost synonymous with Zanzan, much of what he knew about the man was in the form of rumors, exaggerated claims from his retainers, or things that sounded too good to be true.

Thus Perikles wanted to find any concrete reads that definitely stated his accomplishments.

He was however grossly disappointed in the results of this endeavor since there was literally not a single thing about Alexander here.

The only books currently in the library were from Alexander's captured loot.

Thus reading the chronicles of his exploits would have to wait.

Perikles would return to his home around the time the library was scheduled to close and relay all his findings to his mother during supper.

"Zanzan is certainly a much better city than I could have ever expected. It's huge. The roads are wide. It's clean. There is no congestion. And I've seen few beggars!"

"There is even a free library. I never would have thought of something like that!"

"It seems Alexander is quite accomplished as a lord! What do you say, mother?"

Looking at her son's lightly grinning face, Lady Parthia had a complicated feeling rise within her.

She certainly could not refute her son, as she had noticed many of the same things he did.

But she also did not want her son to develop favorable feelings towards Alexander and this place.

It might have sounded selfish, but Lady Parhthia still viewed herself as queen of Tibias and a small part of her still wanted to liberate her lands.

"Ye… yes. It seems our defeat was not unjust. And our fate not too cruel."

However, she mostly kept these thoughts to herself, not wishing to see her son become a martyr because of her.

Thus she replied like so.

Although as she did, somehow Alexander's face floated into her mind, and it subconsciously made her blush.

She was once again reminded of that night when that young man had shown her a whole new world of pleasure, and although very ashamed, she could not relive it.

The way he had put her on all fours and pounded from behind, smashing her heavy, flawless ass and turning it red.

The way he had stuck his finger up her asshole, widening it.

The way he had made her straddle him, squeezing her large breasts.

The way he had pinched her clit and played with her pussy, making her cum over and over again.

The way he had used her mouth, making her drink that turbid fluid by the gallons and painting her face white.

And lastly, the way he had filled her up in all those positions, screwing her tunnels open and scalding her womb, making her feel alive again.

Lady Parthia still remembered very vividly how she had moaned like the most salacious whores under the brutal attacks, and as much as she hated Alexander for making her go through with it, she also hated herself for liking it.

And she particularly hated the fact that the white panties she was wearing had gotten slightly damp, something that was starting to become a more frequent occurrence whenever Alexander's name was brought up.

This reminded would make Lady Parthia toss and turn in her bed for a long before letting slumber take her, as she would be tormented by an eternal itch that the regal lady refused to touch with her own fingers, finding the idea too shameful.

Moving the camera now back to the general populace of Zanzan, in the eastern district of the city, there was a boy inside a decent enough house, waking up at the crack of dawn.

For he had to get ready for this 'school' that his father had enrolled him in.

And surprisingly, it was something the boy seemed actually excited to be attending. due to what his father had told him.

"The pasha has promised those who do good in their studies will be appointed as officials by him. So make sure you study well, Waalie. This old man can die with a smile if only son can become a 'shaheb', hahaha."

And the young, twelve year old too loved the sound of that word- 'Shaheb', meaning official.

For a commoner, that was basically the highest rank you could achieve in life.

Hence, eager to wield the same kind of powers the young boy had seen some of the officials possess, he quickly got up, refreshed, and dressed himself, and then placing the three required books into a small pouch, was out of the house.

By this time, the sun was starting to rise, and although the effects of the night still lingered, the streets were already bustling with people, rushing to start their day.

Zanzanites, or for that case, all the people around this region were very early risers, as they were eager to make the most of the natural light the day provided.

Thus Waalie had to actually push and shove a bit through the crowded streets to reach his school which was a bit of a distance.

But fortunately for him, despite the heavy traffic he managed to make it on time.

The small boy's entrance through the small, wooden gate instantly caught the eyes of some of his friends, one of whom waved with a grin and rushing to him smirked,

"Hey! Waalie! So you managed to get your lazy ass up on time this morning. Haha, good. I was getting worried that you would get caned again for missing the P.T. (physical Therapy)"

The boy saying this was huge compared to Waalie, so much so that the young boy had to actually crane his head up to meet the opposite pair of eyes.

"You seem to be in high spirits Marcus. Why so?" And then greeted so with a smile.

"Haha, well my four brothers are back from the war. All four!" Came the instant reply.

If it was not obvious, this Marcus was Jamiz's youngest son, aged sixteen.

And the way he got into this school was once again through connections, primarily because the wine merchant wanted to get that subsidy Alexander provided to the parents of the attending children.

It was not much, but hey, something was better than nothing.

*Whistle*, *Whistle*,

Just the group of children was starting to gossip, suddenly this loud whistle rang a few times from across the open field, and like clockwork, all five hundred of the attending children broke off whatever they were doing and started to run towards the source, before quickly lining up in rows, going from the shortest in the front to the tallest at the back.

This was the physical exercise portion of the education it started with the children reciting an oath of fealty to Gaia and Alexander and his family, promising to always obey and uphold their rule.

And yes, it was only these two, with no mention of Ramuh or the king, Ptolomy.

Finishing that, then for the next half an hour, the children were drilled in various military exercises.

These included the most common 'attention' and 'stand at ease'commands, turning to a specific direction on command, and other physical gymnastics designed to get the blood pumping.

While failure to appropriately follow the order would get a verbal lashing by the commanding teachers.

Once this was done, the children were given a hearty breakfast of bread, cheese, olive oil, and any kind of seasonal fruit as the staple, along with some kind of protein like eggs, smoked meat, or cooked fish.

And then around 7 am, the actual classes would start.

First would be maths.

And today, Waalie found himself sitting on carpets with a pile of sand in front of him, while the teacher wrote on a blackboard various symbols representing the numbers 50 to 100, how to write the numbers in words, and then telling them to memorize these by practicing on the sand.

"Finished!" However, possessing an almost eidetic memory, Waalie was able to memorize the entire list almost instantly and claimed his work was done almost as soon as the teacher stopped writing.

"Finished?" The loud claim naturally drew the slightly irritated attention of the teacher and seeing this some of the students even sniggered.

While the man, having made his way to the way, stood in front of him imperiously, deciding to test the young boy.

And much to his astonishment, found the young boy to be right.

He truly could remember all the numbers as well as write them.

"Okay! Good. So for now, your next task will be to add 1 to 100."

Thus, having nothing better to give the boy, the elder man lightly smiled, and gave the Waalie this task, believing it to be immensely laborious.

He did not expect him to complete it.

Just to kill time.

"Finished! It's 5050!" So imagine his surprise when a few moments later came this joyous chirp.