Chapter 445
This time, Adepigis had specially rushed over from Cosenza to report to Aristiras. After the defeat at the Ramato River, the soldiers of the Fifth Legion released by Dionysius had some impact on the Bruti region. He hoped to alert the Senate. He did not expect to encounter this. As he had been a herder for many years when he was a slave, he was skilled in horsemanship. He was also very familiar with the terrain of the Cosenza Plateau. It was possible for him to successfully deliver a long-distance letter in the dark.
At this moment, after understanding the whole story, Aristiras knew that this was a serious matter and did not dare to be careless. He immediately made a decision. "Let's go. You and I are going to see Sir Marigi immediately!"
Why was it Marigi, the commerce officer, and not Censor Sesta, who had the authority to punish the elders who left their posts, or Cunogorata, who was temporarily in charge of the administration of the entire Diónia?
That was because Marigi was the confidant of Sir Devers and was more familiar with the intelligence department that Aristiras was in charge of. Aristiras had seen Cunogorata a few times and could clearly feel that Cunogorata hated him. As for Sesta, it was mainly because he was not familiar with the place and was afraid of wasting time.
After Marigi heard this shocking news, he went to see Sesta without any hesitation. Sesta immediately sent people to check the residences of the elders. As expected, it was empty.
So, everyone immediately went to Cunogorata's residence.
After all, Cunogorata was old. Although it was not yet late at night, he was already sound asleep. When he was woken up, he was still in a daze. However, he heard Sesta say, "Petaru, Burgam, and Caduerc left Turií without permission and secretly went to Bruti. This may cause chaos!"
He was scared out of his sleepiness.
"Regardless of whether they left because they had urgent matters to deal with in the tribe or for other reasons, leaving without the approval of the Senate is a violation of the laws of the Alliance!" Cunogorata's words were tactful, but he could not hide the anxiety in his heart. "Immediately send a cavalry to the Bruti region. See if we can chase them back! If you can't catch up with them, go to Cosenza and inform Hilos to strengthen the security and search. Once they are found, immediately 'guard' them! "
At this time, there were only 500 cavalrymen left in the city. However, they were all citizens, so they were not armed. At this late hour, they had to go from house to house to wake them up. So, Cunogorata reminded, "When you gather the cavalrymen, don't make too much noise, lest it causes panic among the people!"
"What if the cavalry catches up to them and they resist?" Sesta asked coldly.
"It's best not to hurt them. If there is no other way, you can injure them, but you must not —" Before Cunogorata's voice faded, Sesta had already strode out.
"There is one thing I forgot to mention … In fact, Aristiras has already sent someone to Cosenza to inform Hilos before Petaru and the others." Marigi interrupted in time to claim credit for the intelligence officer of the Devers.
"Oh, is that so?!" What an unexpected surprise! Cunogorata quickly looked at Aristiras, who was standing in the corner of the living room.
"It was an emergency, so I made the decision without permission. I just wanted to make Cosenza's governor, Hilos, more vigilant. My men are rushing to Cosenza. It is dark now, and it is difficult to travel. I hope he can reach Cosenza before they do, "Aristiras explained.
Due to his previous prejudice, Cunogorata could not praise the intelligence officer. He just nodded and said to Marigi, "Although it is very late, we must inform the other elders and tell them about what happened tonight. Let them be mentally prepared. So, Sir Marigi, please go and tell them to come to me. " Cunogorata was trying to salvage the situation after the incident to prevent others from saying that he had acted arbitrarily. He wanted to give an explanation to the Devers.
"Okay!" Marigi answered straightforwardly and turned to leave.
Aristiras followed him out, but Cunogorata stopped him. "Stay here."
Aristiras looked at Cunogorata in surprise as he walked up to him and asked, "What is your name?"
"Aristiras."
"Aristiras, you have done a good job!" Cunogorata said with a serious expression. "I know you are the eyes of the Devers. The situation in Diónia is not very good now. I hope you can help me temporarily. "
"As a citizen of Diónia, it is my duty to contribute to the Alliance," Aristiras said immediately.
"I want you to send someone to keep an eye on the movements of the other elders of the Senate, Bruti. Before the Devers return, please let me know if there is anything unusual. When the Devers return, I will explain it to him. "Cunogorata looked at him.
Aristiras hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly nodded and said, "Okay, Lord Cunogorata, I will report to you every day."
After leaving the mansion of Cunogorata, Aristiras waved his fist lightly and smiled. In the past, they could only do things in secret and were hated by some of the elders. This time, they could get the approval of Cunogorata, an important figure among the elders. It could be said that they had taken a big step forward from the intelligence department.
… …
On the road leading to Cosenza, Burgam, Petaru, Cadurk, and dozens of others held torches and rushed all the way.
Beyond the area covered by the fire, there was a dark wilderness in front of them. They could only hear the strong mountain wind sweeping over the unobstructed plateau, making a mournful whistling sound as if women were crying …
Petaru wrapped his leather robe tighter around his body. In this terrible winter night, not only did he feel cold, but also his heart. Although he had made up his mind to leave the Diónia Alliance, if he really took action, what would the future of him and his tribe be like? Just like how he couldn't even see his own fingers in front of him, he had no way of estimating …
"Listen, what is that sound?!" Cadurk suddenly shouted.
"It's a wolf!" Someone recognized it from the sound of the wind and shouted, "Be careful, there are wolves in front!"
They hurriedly gathered together, not daring to get separated. In the wilderness at night, encountering wolves was a headache.
They moved forward carefully.
Not long after, they saw five or six wolves gnawing on something by the side of the road. They used torches, spears, and daggers to disperse the wolves with green eyes and teeth. They did not go far, but lingered around.
"It's a horse carcass!" They saw what the wolves were gnawing on.
"It should have died not long ago." After listening to his tribesmen, Burgam's face turned solemn. "Looks like someone rode a horse here not long ago."
Petaru's heart skipped a beat, and his face turned grim as well. "It's possible that someone found out about our movements and rode to Cosenza to inform on us!"
"We moved so stealthily, they couldn't have known beforehand. Plus, this is the fastest way to Cosenza. Even if they were found, they couldn't have gone ahead of us. This is just a coincidence. Someone must have left the stable open and let the horse sneak out, and was killed by the wolves … "Cadurk argued.
"But this is not a Bruti horse." Burgam, who was observing the horse carcass closely, reminded him. "The horse carcass on the ground is bigger than the short Bruti horse."
"It's not like you don't know. There are many tribes on the Cosenza Plateau that rear horses from other places, "Cadurk retorted again.
"Alright, stop arguing. No matter where this horse came from, we need to be on our guard." Petaru hurried to mediate and said, "I've decided to go to the south of Cosenza, to my original tribe (As one of the main instigators of the Bruti War and the main accomplice of the Pienlen tribe, Petaru's tribe was split up after the war, one near Cosenza, and the other moved to the edge of Knapetitia's territory)."
"I have to return to Cosenza," Cadurk said. When he opened the city gates and lured Diónia into the inner city of Cosenza, he was rewarded by Diónia. His tribe was unscathed and was not moved. Now, he was the largest tribe among the many small tribes in Cosenza.
"You have to be careful." That was all Petaru could say. If Cadurk did not sneak back into the tribe and bring enough warriors with him, he would not be of any help to their rebellion. This was also the reason why he put aside his previous prejudice and was willing to work with him.
"After you've convinced your tribe, don't forget to bring them to Anbalia as soon as possible! Only when we're together can we become stronger, so that Diónia won't dare to invade easily, and we'll have enough time to make more choices! "Burgam reminded the two of them.
… …
After the Bruti War was incorporated into Diónia, the city of Cosenza had changed a lot in the past few years.
The inner city was the administrative area, mainly consisting of the city hall, the council hall, the court, the temple, the square, and the Ministry of Military Affairs, the governor's residence, and the officials' residences.
The main function of the council hall was: the governor of Cosenza and the leaders of the Bruti tribes to discuss some management matters in the Bruti region. From this point of view, while other Greek cities were still preparing for their local councils, Cosenza had already implemented a similar mechanism. Of course, this had to do with the survival of the tribes in the Bruti region. The Grumentum of Lucania also implemented a similar mechanism.
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