Herald of Steel



"My lord, we have captured a large number of nobles in the mansion over there," A scout pointed to the spire on the roof of the mansion as he made his report to Alexander, before continuing, "But it seems there are a lot of women and children in there as well. And our men are not confident about escorting all of them safely here amidst all the chaos that's going on around. So, would Your Grace be willing to meet them in the mansion over there? Or should we assign more men to bring them here?"

The scout looked at Alexander with clear, limpid eyes, waiting over the order.

"Hmm, the streets of the city are too narrow. So assigning more men might not be enough," Alexander loudly said his deduction, and then he ruminated a bit.

He specifically thought about not wanting to spook the prey.

Just like it is said that the meat of an animal that is slaughtered when it is in a relaxed, stress-free mood tastes better because it has not released various hormones into the bloodstream, Alexander felt that the nobles might be more persuasive to wagging their tongue in their own home, reassured that nothing bad will happen if they just give Alexander that he wanted.

And thus he decided, "Okay, tell whoever is in charge there that I will visit there shortly. And that he is to cooperate with my bodyguards in securing the mansion."

The second part of the instructions was because the regular soldiers were not trained on how to make the premises safe for Alexnder.

For that, Alexander had written a very basic manual based on what he had seen in movies and read in books that he had given his contingent of bodyguards to learn.

And he had even instructed them to add to it as they saw fit.

"At once my lord," Receiving the order, the herald gave a quick military salute and then ran off in the mansion's direction.

While Alexander turned to Hemicus to order, "Send some of our men ahead. Have them secure the premises. And tell them to separate the women and children from the men and take them into the nearby barns."

"Also make sure to perform full body checks for the nobles. I don't want any of them to pull a fast one on me." Alexander finished.

Assassinations using hidden blades was a technique as old as human civilization.

"Yes," A short reply affirmed the command.

The Pasha then asked Menes to be in charge of the city in the meantime, and as he and Melodias sometime later were standing in front of the mansion door.

"Welcome my lord," Hercinidus ran up to give a full bow in front of Alexander's horse the moment he saw the large group approach, and stayed obediently still as the Pasha and his entourage disembarked.

"Sergeant Hercinidus, congratulations on a job well done." The very first thing that Alexander did after getting off his horse was greet the sergeant by his name loudly and then land strong pats on the shoulders with a wide smile.

And then, maintaining his image of a generous lord with a generous hand, handed the soldier a leather pouch which he took out from a side saddle, "Here is a little something for you and the missus. Please accept."

Alexander usually was open with his hands when it came to his soldiers and thus rewarded the man for capturing so many rabbits in one single cage.

And the sergeant took it with a wide grin, bowing once again and pronouncing, "Praise be to the lord."

The fact that someone like Alexander knew his name filled his heart with more joy than whatever was inside the pouch.

In fact, Alexander had learned the name of the Sergeant along the way from Melodias, who said that the sergeant was initially part of his mercenary groups and even added that he had married an Adhanian recently.

Which was also why Alexander prepared the package for the man as he did.

And as Hercinidus received the pouch, he could instantly tell it did not contain coin, and would later find it to have some bars of soap, a small beautiful glass showpiece in the shape of a hedgehog, and two hand mirrors.

And this discovery would make him happier than receiving a 1,000 ropals.

Because anybody could gift him money.

But these stuff were unique presents of the Pasha.

Hercinidus was not of high enough caliber to get to attend Alexander's wedding but he had heard from his battalion captain (500-man leader) that it was the spectacle of the century.

That captain especially bragged about the wedding presents, saying it was worth more than a 1,000 ropals, and he especially loved showing around the beautiful mirror, and saying how he had managed to convince a Zanzan girl he was wooing to say yes using it.

And now Alexander had gifted him not one, but two of it!

How could he not be happy?

While Alexander had done this to add a personal touch and also because this stuff was cheap for him to produce.

Much cheaper than a 1,000 ropals, while their efficacy of inspiring happiness and loyalty was much higher.

And after handing the pouch, Alexander even added, "And rest assured, you and your company will get all your due rewards."

This statement blasted away the last bit of acrimony that the man had as before, when Alexander's bodyguard took over control from him, he was slightly afraid that they would lie and swallow up the rewards for themselves.

But with Alexander's reassurance, his smile enlarged even more, saying, "No, no, my lord. Being able to serve you is the greatest reward."

Alexander then said a few more encouraging words to the sergeant, before finally being given the go-ahead by his bodyguards and escorted inside.

'Let's see what were all of you in here,' Alexander said to himself as he entered the lavish mansion.

Alexander did not buy the story Hernicidus told him about the nobles gathering in one building after the city was taken over.

Because when shit hit the fan, nobles were a bunch of people who would always prioritize saving their own hide.

It was their general characteristics and to make them go against their instinct meant that they were either here prior to the 'invasion' or there was someone in Jabel with sufficient authority and power to make these scaredy-cats want to gather around him in times of need.

And Alexander would soon find which.

Alexander observed the interior of the mansion as he made his way to the hall room where all the noblemen were quarantined, making note of the lavish architecture, though it naturally paled compared to his own manor.

But the thing that caught Alexander's eye the most was that the house strangely followed a very similar design to his very own one, appearing as just a smaller, lesser, poorer version of his house.

And he could think of three reasons for this.

One reason this could be was because it was built by the same man as the one who did Pasha Muazz's house.

Second was that the owner of the house wanted to copy Muazz's lifestyle.

Or thirdly, this was the standard architectural structure used by all or most nobles of Zanzan.

But whichever the case was, the similar geometry of the house made Alexander quickly cover the distance with experienced footsteps until he found himself in front of the hall room.

"Ohh, why is this here?" But just before Alexander was about to enter the room, he posed this question as he noticed a small pool of blood on the carpet.

He was afraid that one of the nobles might be injured or killed, thus spooking the prey.

Alexander's question was answered by one from the group of soldiers guarding the door answered, "My lord, when we were doing the body checks, one noble refused. And when we insisted, he lunged at us, breaking the nose of one of our brothers."

"And then, in the midst of trying to separate the two men, some blood spilled out."

Who that noble might have been would be evident to all the readers, while the succinct answer left out the part where several of the soldiers made sure to make Maizdy's face swell up by a few times, if even that was possible given the already portly face of the man.

Alexander could tell that his soldiers had likely taken this noble out of the room to give him a good thrashing, extracting multiple times the amount of blood the man had managed to spill.

But he did not ask for details, and only instead said with a light nod, "You did well. Good job," while internally he thought, 'Seems like there are troublemakers there. *Sigh*, it will have to be that then.'

The incident and scuffle must have ruffled the noble's feathers and it was likely the birds would first need to be placated before they would sing.

Alexander signaled the door to be opened and as the light was allowed to escape from the room, Alexander laid his eyes upon his prey.

While Jamider (Earl) Nibbar tried to get up to greet Alexander the moment he saw him.

"My lord, welc….urggg…" But even before he could a full sentence out, a *shoo* sound hit his ear, like an arrow being released, and a moment later felt a stinging sensation around his neck.

And a second later he flopped onto the carpet, not even realizing that Alexander's crossbow bold had penetrated his throat, and died with an incredulous look on his face.