Chapter 25
"One more question." The Devers retracted his gaze and asked seriously, "On this journey, where will we be considered out of Persia's jurisdiction?"
Marigi was eager to please the Devers. He thought carefully and drew a circle on the map. "Here! Past Mespira! "
"Mespira?" The Devers carefully looked at the pattern on the ground.
"Mespira is the former capital of Assyria, Nineveh! Beyond it is Dukea, "Marigi emphasized.
The Devers nodded. "Are you familiar with Dukea?"
"Not really. I just did business with them, exchanging food for their mountain products!" Marigi said with an angry expression. "But they are untrustworthy barbarians. They often don't pay, injure people, and rob things!"
Dyvers listened carefully, then turned to Matonis and said, "Bring his family to the supply camp and have Mercies take good care of them. But you have to tell Mercies not to mistreat him and his wife and daughter, and not to treat them like slaves!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Marigi knelt down. "I beg you! I beg you! Let me go! And my wife and daughter! I've told you everything! Please let us go … "
"It seems like you understand Greek. You pretended not to understand it before," the Devers said.
Marigi did not try to explain himself, but just wailed loudly.
"In fact, I'm not letting you and your family go for your own good. Don't you know that your lord, the king's brother, Cyrus the Younger, has died in battle! "
Marigi suddenly stopped crying. His hands that were holding onto the Devers' legs lost their strength. He asked weakly, "Is His Highness Cyrus really dead?"
"Actually, you've already guessed it, haven't you? Otherwise, why would Tisafonis bring us here and allow us to plunder your village? Because this is the punishment for Cyrus the Younger's rebellion! I believe that this will not be the only time! Everyone who is close to him will not be able to escape. Don't you think so? "
Marigi was already sitting on the ground in a daze.
Matonis pulled him to his feet and dragged him out.
"This man doesn't look like an ordinary merchant," Hilos said to the Devers as he watched Marigi being dragged out of the tent.
"You're right!" Devers nodded. The whole family lived in a shabby house, but they had a lot of gold, silver, and splendid clothes. Just looking at him and his wife, they did not look like ordinary merchants of Persia. Moreover, they were proficient in Greek and knew so many things. Perhaps he was a relative of Little Cyrus, his supervisor, or his royal merchant. After learning that Little Cyrus was plotting a rebellion, he hid in a remote village in his territory to avoid trouble. If not for the Village Head's snitch, we would have missed a big fish.
Devers felt lucky that he had selectively forgotten how he tortured the village head and his family. He said to Hilos, "Captain, I'll have to trouble you to emphasize to Mercies that no one is allowed to harass his family. He's very useful to us! Now that Little Cyrus is dead, I want him to sincerely rely on us! "
A soldier gave an order to his captain, and no one present was surprised. Devers's position as the leader of the team had been established.
"Okay." Hilos did not hesitate to walk out of the tent.
"Piccoles, thank you very much! You've been a great help to me today! "Devers turned to a soldier and said.
"It's my honor to be able to help you!" Piccoles said slightly respectfully.
Devers took out two drachmas and stuffed them into his hand.
"This … this …" Piccoles pretended to decline.
Devers said, "Please accept it! I really have to thank you for today, and I hope you can keep it a secret and don't let Menon know! "
Hearing this, Piccoles no longer declined. He stuffed the silver coins into his arms and said, "Don't worry, I don't like that guy either! I promise Hades that I won't leak a word! " Piccoles made a gesture to keep his mouth shut, then said excitedly, "Next time there's a job like this, just call me!"
"You'll definitely be there!" Devers laughed.
When Piccoles left the tent, Gilgris immediately asked with concern, "Piccoles is Menon's Persia interpreter. Is he reliable?"
"I heard that Menon knows Persia, and Piccoles has nothing to do at all. Instead, he's often ordered around by Menon as a coolie. He wouldn't be stupid enough to offend us, not to mention he can make money," Olivers interjected. When he woke up, he knew that he had almost gone to hell and immediately thanked Devers. Unexpectedly, Devers reacted coldly to him, and he realized something, so he had been relatively quiet until now.
But as soon as he spoke, the tent fell into a brief silence.
"Devers, how did you know that the Persia merchant buried the money in the yard?" Giogris suddenly asked.
Devers understood that Giogris wanted to liven up the atmosphere, so he said, "It's very simple. When we captured Marigi, I found that in addition to worrying about his wife and daughter being bullied by us —" Devers glanced at Olivers. "His eyes also secretly glanced at the old tree in the yard from time to time. I walked over and took a closer look. There was a place under the tree that was a little different in color. It was new soil. Of course, I had my suspicions, but before I could scare him, this guy was timid and took the initiative to confess. "
Several people loudly praised Devers's attentiveness, especially Olivers, who spoke the loudest.
Devers said to Giogris, "This money is of great use to us. You go to the supply camp every day and check it. Don't let that fat man take advantage of it."
"Okay."
… …
After many raids by the Greek mercenaries, the marching column of the army became even larger and more bloated.
For the next few days, just as Marigi had said, the army marched along the right bank of the Tigris River, then crossed the river and reached the city of Gaine. Here, they once again received ample supplies. However, the suspicion of the Greek mercenaries towards the Persia grew. New rumors constantly spread among the army, causing more conflicts between the two armies after they set up camp.
Finally, when they reached the Zapatas River, a large-scale fight broke out between the two armies. More than a hundred people from both sides fought with weapons in hand. More than a dozen people died or were injured. If the leaders of both sides had not arrived in time and sent troops to separate the two sides in time, the result would have been unimaginable.
This caused the next day's march to be cancelled and the soldiers of the various battalions to be restricted from leaving the camp. After marching every day, Devers and the others were physically and mentally exhausted. It was rare for them to have a day of free time, so everyone slept in.
In the supply camp, Merses seized the time to slaughter some of the looted livestock and make them into sausages.
Just as the Devers woke up, Antonios entered the tent with an anxious look on his face. "Devers, Menon, Krulkus, Proxinus, and a few other leaders are going to the Persia camp to negotiate!"
"What!!!" The Devers sat up in shock.
"I heard that after what happened last night, Krulkus immediately went to negotiate with Tisafniss, hoping to eliminate the distrust and suspicion between the two sides and avoid such hostility from happening again. Perhaps the two sides had a good talk. Krulkus directly spent the night in the Persia camp. He returned safely this morning and then sent someone to inform the leaders of the various camps to go with him to the Persia camp for further talks with Tisafniss. It is said that many soldiers and officers in the other camps opposed them going, but in the end, the leaders reached an agreement and they are going to set off immediately. "Antonios quickly explained what had happened.
"Why didn't anyone in our camp inform us of this?" Hilos asked in surprise.
"Menon didn't discuss it with anyone else. He only quietly brought the two platoon jarls, Capace and Milstick," Antonios said awkwardly. He knew in his heart that after the collective "forcing" incident,
After Menon's prestige was lost, he didn't want to give them any more time to discuss it, so he directly found two platoon jarls who were willing to listen to him.
Antonios didn't explain in detail, but said, "I also heard the soldiers in the neighboring Socrates camp making a ruckus, and I only found out about it when I asked."
"Who went?" The Devers stood up and asked solemnly as they quickly dressed.
Antonios' heart skipped a beat, and the Devers' expression confirmed the uneasiness in his heart. "Krulkus, Proxinus, Menon, Socrates, and Agias, the five leaders, and a dozen platoon jarls."
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