Herald of Steel

“Okay, now for the most exciting part,” Alexander then smiled enigmatically which made many wonder what could be more important than promotions.

Alexander began his speech, “We have not had any coin for the last two months. And so morale is running a bit low.”

“But, as many of you know, by the grace of the gods we have managed to acquire some. So, I believe the soldiers deserve some.” He lightly smiled.

“The commander is the best,” Remus unable to hold his excitement loudly cheered and was joined by many others.

Alexander let the murmurs decrease and gave the exact numbers, “All eight hundred of will get our full pay, five thousand tustas, two thousand in coin, and three thousand in goods.”

“Each ordinary soldier will also get an additional five thousand tustas as a gift from me,” Alexander transformed the things he ‘stole’ from the Cantagenans into presents, turning him from a thief to a philanthropist.

This made many cheer things like, “The commander’s heart is boundless like the sky,” and “The soldiers shall drink to the commander’s health.”

“Now, for the higher-ups.” Alexander lightly smiled and made many anticipate the numbers.

“The three captains will get an additional fifty thousand…”

“Ohhhohhh,” Bartholow did not let Alexander finish and began cheering.

But Alexander raised his voice and pushed through,”..will get an additional fifty thousand tustas, five thousand in coin, rest in loot.”

“And if Remus can become the captain, because he is so young and in the cavalry unit, he will get a hundred thousand tustas, with ten thousand in coin.

“I will try hard,” Remus answered excitedly with steely determination.

Alexander then continued, “The three stratos will each get two hundred thousand tustas, twenty thousand in coin, rest in loot.”

“Thanks,” Camius casually smiled, not standing in grand ceremony with his friend.

“And at last, Theocles, who has managed to make the quartermaster of the army will get half a million tustas, fifty thousand as coin.”

“I thank the commander,” Theocles deeply bowed.

“Um,” Alexander hummed and then said, “I remember you telling me that the transfer will finish by today. So, I want everyone paid by the day after tomorrow. Work hard.”

“Yes,” Theocles nodded.

“So, I guess this concludes our meeting..” Alexander attempted to terminate the meeting.

But Camius interjected, “Commander, you have not announced a reward for yourself.” 𝗻𝐨𝐯𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

This made Alexander turn to Camius and give a light smile, conveying he was internally pleased by this.

In an effort to not appear greedy, he had intentionally omitted himself, even though he wanted a part of the loot.

So, he had hoped someone else would raise the issue by themselves.

And thankfully Camius, with his high observational skills did.

“Haha, I don’t need any reward. Working for the good of everyone is enough of a reward,” Alexander attempted to turn down the offer with fake modesty.

“Hehe, commander is too humble. But if the commander feels he needs no reward then I don’t need it too,” Theocles announced.

“Yes, me neither,”

“None of us do,”

A chorus echoed.

“Okay, okay, I will take it.” Alexander had a fake helpless tone to his voice.

And then he asked the all-important question, “But how much?”

Here Camius again took the lead, “Everyone, you should all be aware by now of all the things the commander has done for us. So many that we can’t even begin to list them all down. Over the last ten years, he has produced miracles after miracles and we owe a debt to him we can never hope to repay.”

“Yeah, he helped me get my freedom,” Menes spoke up.

“His medicines cured so many of us,” Theocles shouted.

“He saved my life,” Remus chimed.

Camius looked around everyone, nodding his head, and then said, “I heard that the total worth will be tens of millions of tustas. I propose we give a quarter of everything to the commander.”

‘Five million tustas!’ Alexander almost jumped in fright. He had assumed he would be able to at best fleech a million.

“Yeah, let’s give him even more. Let’s give half,” Menes who had a bit less sense of money cheered for even more.

“Hehe, since one insisting then I will not be polite and take the quarter offer,” Alexander had a sly smile on his face.

‘I wonder how much of it was staged,’ Pallidus darkly remunerated.

“That’s great, commander. Besides you might need that money, given your new family, hahaha” Camius loudly joked which spread throughout the tent while Alexander placidly looked at Camius.

If it was anyone other than him, he would have been shoveling shit out of the latrine for the rest of his life.

But Camius had earned this privilege.

“Okay, then let’s finish today.” Alexander again called for the meeting to end, again reiterating, “Remember everything that was discussed, and also, all military exercise and training will take place, regardless of the rain or not. And today, because of the rain all soldiers participating in the exercise will get double rations.”

“So again, congratulations to all the new captains and stratos. I pray all of you will strive and struggle to your utmost limit to help us stride through these difficult times And see you all tomorrow.”

The crowd returned a “Have a good day, commander,” and then all left, except Camius who Alexander specifically told to stay behind.

“Thanks for getting me at least five million tustas,” Was the first time Alexander said to his spy, grinning ear to ear.

With this wealth, Alexander could afford to never work a single day in his life.

“Haha, you deserve every single copper of it,” Camius returned the smile, “Without you, I would have died on that street.”

This sentence made Alexander reminisce about the fateful meeting of this unlikely duo.

Years ago, Alexander with a few others was sent to the market for some grocery shopping. There he witnessed an altercation between a street hustler and a rich merchant, where the hustler was caught by the merchant’s guards and then promptly stabbed in the guts multiple times, before being left to bleed out on the streets.

That hustler was, as you have guessed- Camius.

Seeing no man had the slightest bit of intention in helping the criminal, and all were content to let him just die on the dirt road tugged at Alexander’s heart who quickly approached the bleeding man, used the water in his leather pouched to wash away the dust and grime around the wound and made a bandage over the wound with his own tunic.

Then he made his entourage carry the poor soul all the way to their camp, sew up his wounds, and feed and shelter him as he recovered.

All for free.

Such philanthropy was naturally not well received by the others, to say the least, and Alexander even got an earful from Nestoras, who made him do many extra chores.

Alexander also had to do even more chores to make up for the cost of Camius’s lodgings.

“Hmph, if I had met you now, I might not have saved you,” Alexander was a lot more tender-hearted then, still holding on to some of the naiveties of his past life.

But his hard work did pay off as if not for Camius’s espionage, he would have likely died by their scheme.

“I would not have got caught now. As you should know,” Camius smirked, meaning that the skills he use to spy for Alexander are the same skills he used as a street hustler.

Camius had been moved by the way Alexander cared for him and chose to join the mercenaries, one to pay back the medical bills and two to help Alexander.

“So, what’s new? Got any juicy news?” Alexander asked for his daily security report.

“Nothing interesting. I am still working on Pallidus though,” Camius slouched back on the chair.

“These things take time. Be patient and don’t rush,” Alexander advised.

“Yeah,” Pausing Camius then said, “…yesterday the soldiers learned a few new stories about you, like how you don’t sleep and how you like all kinds of women.”

‘So, that’s what the family joke was about,’ Alexander’s mouth twitched a bit.

Then he finished the exchange, “Okay, I will not keep you any longer. You have a lot of things to do today and be careful not to catch a cold.”

“*Nod*, see you tomorrow doc.”

As Camius left, Alexander was greeted by a surprise guest who wished an audience with him- Menes.

“Any problem?” Alexander cut to the chase fearing something major has happened.

“No, commander everything is okay,” Menes reassured and then got to his point, “Commander, I am actually here for a personal reason.”

Here he paused to look at Alexander and then after calming himself down a bit said, “Commander, I heard Gelene is with you. Is it possible to give her to me?”

“Gelene?” Alexander was surprised by the mention of this unrelated woman but soon connected the dots.

She and Menes were both owned by Octavius, who sometimes the black woman to Menes to reward him.

He further remembered the woman saying ‘how she made the strongest boy in the camp into a man.”

Alexander suspected the giant fell in love then.

So with a light smile said, “Yes, it is possible to release her. But tell me do you love her or do you want her?”

“Huh, of course, I love her and want to be with her.” Menes seemed to not understand the question.

He even further said, “Alexander, I would owe you for the rest of my life if I could have her.”

‘Oh, you poor man,’ Alexander ruefully lamented at his friend.