Chapter 1099
Diagonally in front of it was the only black wooden table in the hall, and behind the wooden table was a smaller ivory chair. According to Hakkar's understanding, that should be the seat of the rotating president who was in charge of the meeting that day.
Around the central open space, there were 20 levels of stairs that rose like an arena. Each level was neatly arranged with countless wooden chairs, stacked on top of each other. Even Hakkar felt a little dizzy looking at them. They surrounded the throne in the center like stars surrounding the moon.
At this time, there were already some people seated in the hall. Some of them noticed Hakkar, who was following behind the ceremonial officer. A few people quickly stood up from the center of the front row and walked towards Hakkar. They were led by Lucias, Cypross, Cydorum, Antares, and Hermon, the five rotating chairmen.
"Welcome, Lord Hakkar! We heard that you were sick a few days ago, and we didn't have the nerve to visit you. Are you feeling better now? "Lucius asked with a concerned expression.
"I'm really sorry to have made you worry. I'm fine now," Hakkar said apologetically. "Today is my first time attending a meeting. I thought I could arrive early, but it seems that I'm still late."
"You're not late," Cypross explained. "It's just that we've always been used to arriving early, because we have to communicate and discuss the topics that are to be discussed that day in advance to avoid accidents …"
"Then I'll try to arrive early when there are meetings in the future," Hakkar said knowingly.
"Let's not block the passageway and affect the people behind us. Let's go back to our seats and talk in detail," Antares reminded.
The few of them brought Hakkar to the front row, and Hakkar immediately noticed that there were six white chairs that stood out in the center of the almost entirely black chairs.
These were the ivory chairs that belonged to the rotating president! Did this mean that the rotating president's position in the Senate was so unusual? … While Hakkar was thinking, he saw Cypross pointing to the seat on his left and said, "Lord Hakkar, your seat is here."
Hakkar walked over and sat down. Suddenly, he realized that this seat really did belong to him. This was because the name "Hakkar" was carved on the ground under his feet. Looking at the seats around him, there were also names carved on them.
Cypross saw what he was doing and immediately explained, "The seats in the hall are not to be taken randomly. Each seat belongs to an Elder, and the name of the Elder is engraved under the seat. If an Elder takes a seat randomly during the meeting, the ceremonial officer will give him a warning, and if he refuses to heed the warning, he will be expelled from the hall."
Hakkar nodded, silently raising his guard.
"Actually, ten years ago, other than some special seats, the rest of the seats could be sat at will." Antares poked his head out and said, "Therefore, during every meeting, the familiar Elders would sit together. They would sit here and there, making them very scattered. Moreover, they liked to gather together to discuss, so the order was rather messy, causing the efficiency of the meeting to be low … Later, it was Lord Sesta who put forward a proposal to address this, and it was approved.
Hakkar nodded again. During this period of time, he had studied the politics of Diónia in detail. He knew that Sesta was the Minister of Supervision of the Kingdom, and he had been in this position for almost twenty years. It was said that he was a cold person, and he had punished many officials and even Elders. Many officials were afraid of him, but the majority of the people respected him, calling him "The Kingdom's Aeacus" (one of the three Infernal Judges).
Under Antares' intentional pointing, Hakkar saw an old man sitting in the same row not far from them. From the side, his body was straight, his eyebrows were thick and long, his nose bridge was high, his nose was big, his lips were thick, and his eyes weren't big.
This is Sesta? While Hakkar was thinking, the old man turned his head and made eye contact with him. Hakkar immediately felt a sharp light shoot out from the old man's small eyes, like a sharp knife stabbing into his own eyes.
But soon after, the elder retracted his radiance, and his stern face became a bit more peaceful. He nodded towards Hakkar, then stood up and walked towards one of the ceremonial officials. He said a few words to him, and the disciplinary official immediately ran out of the venue.
"It seems that Sesta feels that the Elders are entering too slowly, so he asked the ceremonial officer to hurry them up," Antares said with a sigh. Antares sighed as he introduced, "Lord Hakkar, we aren't the first to attend every Senate meeting, but this old fellow. Although this is also his duty, he has been doing this for the past 20 years. I really can't help but admire him … I really don't know if the next Minister of Supervision will be like him!"
Hakkar looked at Sesta, who was standing in front of the hall like a solid stone pillar, and suddenly asked, "Lord Cypross, you just said that a seat belongs to a Senator, but if the Senator is no longer here, the name …"
"The name will be covered by cement, and after it hardens, the new Senator's name will be engraved on it …" Cypross said emotionally, one of his feet lightly rubbing against the ground.
Only then did Hakkar notice that the color of the name engraved on the ground was a little different from the color around it. He heard Cypross say softly, "This seat previously belonged to Lord Cornelus …"
Hakkar did not say anything after hearing that. For someone like him who had been suffering from illness for many years, he was similarly touched.
"Lord Hakkar, there are a total of 615 Senators in the Senate. It will be difficult to remember all of them in a short period of time," Antares suggested. "But you can first remember the main Senators, such as the ministers of the various departments of the kingdom. Their seats are on both sides of us. The Senators who were established in the Kingdom of Diónia are the most senior, so their seats are in the first two rows. There are also the Senators who have been serving as town governors for many years and have only been promoted to Legion Commanders in recent years. They are in the third to sixth row …"
Hakkar listened attentively and asked, "So, my brother Hasdrubal will be sitting at the back?"
"Of course not," Lucius interrupted. "Due to Lord Hasdrubal's special situation, after the banquet last night, His Majesty specially discussed with us and finally arranged a special seat for him. I believe he will be satisfied."
"Where is his seat?" Hakkar was curious.
… …
By the time Hasdrubal walked into the hall, it was already crowded with people. It was unusually lively. If not for the ceremonial officer leading the way, he would not have known where to go.
"Lord Hasdrubal, this is your exclusive seat. From now on, you will be seated here when attending Senate meetings." The ceremonial officer finished speaking and turned to leave.
It was the seat on the left of the third row. Hasdrubal stood in front of his seat. He felt the oppressive feeling of being stared at by the people around him when he walked through the corridor had lessened. He felt slightly relieved.
As soon as he sat down, the person in front of him turned around. "Lord Hasdrubal, we meet again!"
Hasdrubal looked at the person. It was Amyntas, whom he had chatted happily with last night.
"Lord Hasdrubal, I'm still a little dizzy from the drinking competition I had with you yesterday." The person next to Amyntas turned around as well. It was Matonis, another Diónia general whom Hasdrubal had met at the banquet last night.
"Aren't you afraid of embarrassing yourself? You can't even beat me in drinking!" Amyntas mocked.
"As long as I can beat you in wrestling, that's enough," Matonis retorted, unwilling to be outdone.
Just as the two were about to bicker, the senator next to Hasdrubal turned around and smiled. "Lord Hasdrubal, nice to meet you. I am Diónia's 7th Legion Commander, Tiger-Tilos."
Considering Hasdrubal's personality, the Devers had specially invited Amyntas and Matonis to accompany him at the banquet last night.
Amyntas had sparred with Hasdrubal in Serinus City. Although Diónia had won in the end, it had been a very intense fight. As the saying goes, "no discord, no concord". Amyntas and Hasdrubal had a mutual appreciation for each other. Furthermore, due to his old age and the many old injuries he had sustained, it was difficult for him to move around. As a result, he had no choice but to resign from his position as the First Legion Commander. In the end, the Devers appointed Leotychides, who did not belong to the expeditionary army and had much less experience than them, to take over. This made Amyntas a little unwilling. Hasdrubal was the only person who had defeated Leotychides in that war, and his personality was to his liking. In addition, his background was special, so with Amyntas's intention to win him over, he, Matonis, and Hasdrubal had a great time drinking last night.
Hasdrubal, who had fought in the Iberian region for more than ten years, was also willing to stay with Amyntas, Matonis, and other Diónia generals. Not only because they had similar interests and had many topics to talk about, but also because after the banquet last night, the Devers had specially talked to him and given him an appointment. This caused the former general of Carthage, who had been idle for several years because of his decadence, to finally pull himself together, and also made him realize that having a good relationship with the Diónia army would be beneficial for him to carry out his mission.
Both sides had the intention to be on good terms, so the atmosphere soon became warm, and Hasdrubal no longer felt like he was in a strange environment.
"His Majesty has arrived!" Accompanied by a loud shout, the closed wooden door at the back of the center of the hall, which Hakkar was facing, opened.
The originally noisy hall suddenly quieted down.
Four palace guards in military uniform came out from the door, surrounding the crowned king of the Devers and entering the hall.
The elders in the hall quickly stood up. Dragged by Tigertilos, Hasdrubal also stood up reluctantly.
Only when the Devers sat down on the throne did the elders sit down one after another.
At this time, the palace guards stood around the throne, and the ceremonial officers under the Ministry of Supervision also took their positions. Three recording officers of the hall held pen and paper, sitting at the edge of the center of the hall. The rotating chairman, Antalys, stood up and walked to the podium. Everything was ready.
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