Herald of Steel



Mohshin's information naturally had a profound impact on both the man.

Perseus felt his eyes bulge like he likely never had, while Leosydas grabbed his chair so hard that he felt a slight pain all the way to his wound.

Of course, they had seen noticed the western parts of the city were not protected by the walls.

But they had also noticed the steep hills and the rough ground, which was likely why the Muazz family felt they did not need to.

Any army, especially one which employed the phalanx would be unable to maintain formation when crossing it, and once the enemy attacked during that moment, the result would be similar to when Alexander defeated Amenheraft.

And Perseus was aware of this and thus did not immediately jump to hug Mohshin when the man gave the information.

Instead, he decided to probe, asking,

"Sneaking such an army over there will inevitably cause a lot of noise. How will you stop the enemy from detecting us?"

With Leosydas joined as well, saying, "That's right. We noticed the enemy has a watchtower overlooking that side. If the enemy sees it will be all over!"

"Watchtower?" At the mention of this, Mohshin seemed confused.

He could not remember any watchtower being there and so looked at the two in askance.

"You know the building we can see from here…up on the hill…the watchtower!" So Perseus tried to clarify, even pointing his finger to the side from where the structure he was describing could be seen.

And it was only then it became clear to the old slave what Perseus was talking about.

"Oh that! Haha, that is no watchtower! That is the lord's mansion, Your Grace!" Mohshin said with a chuckle, and then, suddenly thinking quickly on his feet, the shrewd man temptingly suggested, "Your Highness, if you can move your army fast enough, you might even be able to reach that mansion without alerting the enemy. And then capture all the people inside. Imagine!"

Even Mohshin got excited thinking about it, as he then added,

"Though the lord himself isn't there, you should know that all his family is there… including his new wife. And let me tell you, she is quite the beauty. I got to see her when she got married last year."

"Not to mention, it is his wife who is temporarily in charge of the city. So if can you capture her, it will be like capturing the city itself!" Mohsin really did not need to tell Perseus that.

But Perseus was glad that he did because every word that flowed out of this man seemed to sound as sweet as honey to him.

Perseus was so excited that his hands had become white in excitement as he gripped his chair too hard, and he even felt he could kiss the man.

"Is it true? Is everything you say really all true?" Perseus felt his breath quicken at the prospect of what it would mean if they were.

"Yes! By the gods as my witness!" Mohshin crossed his arms on his chest in a somber promise.

"......." And this caused Perseus to go silent for a bit, as he then turned to look at Leosydas to try and see what he thought, and for a while, it seemed the two men were talking with each other using their eyes

Then after a bit of somber quietness, it was Leosydas who turned to look at Mohshin and giving a light smile and nod, he decided to end the talks there, saying,

"Thank you for your information Mohshin. We will have our scouts first have a bit of a look around the place you mentioned to confirm everything you said. And then depending on how feasible it is, we will plan accordingly."

"So how many we contact you if we want to?" He casually then asked.

"Ah!" And Mohshin sounded as if he had not thought of that possibility, for the man had thought that this information alone would be enough to convince Tibias.

"What more do you my lords want from me? I have said everything I knew, and even if I lied, you can simply not attack!" He reasoned, unable to think of why they would want to talk to him again.

Given the inherent danger one faced when betraying his side, it was natural to meet with his collaborators as few times as possible.

But Perseus clarified "There are always unforeseen situations occurring in such things. Situations that cannot be planned ahead of and require the guidance of a local specialist," further adding,

"For instance, you said it is now possible to attack because there are roads over the mines now. Well, a guide who could navigate us through there will be surely useful. And this is just one of many unforeseen problems we might face."

Perseus's quick thinking here was able to show off the vast experience he had gained through various campaigns, as he was able to plan for contingencies ahead of time.

But Mohshin felt Perseus was being a worrywart and tried to alleviate such concerns by saying, "My lord, the way from the west is really straightforward. There is only one path and you will really need no guide."

Here Mohshin was simply making stuff up, as he had not been to the mines by himself, but said so anyway because of this,

"You see me being able to slip past the guards and meeting you this time is already taking a huge risk. I might not be so lucky every time."

This was indeed true, though it was not as hard getting out of the city as it was getting into it.

But still, it was a significant hurdle no doubt, and the man had only been able to accomplish this by using an unused, in disrepair sewage passage barely able to fit one man located near his home to pop out somewhere outside the walls.

And though he was successful in that endeavor, the experience of moving through that foul-smelling, cold-to-the-bones structure was something he wanted to do ever again.

Hence the reluctance and the made-up promise regarding the mine.

But Perseus was not so easy to swindle, and so bluntly said, "If your master wants to become a count and rule Zanzan, you will need to give us a way to contact you. I will not move my army so easily."

Perseus knew he would be foolish to simply let this valuable fish out of his grasp and vanish into thin air so easily.

Since whoever was behind this slave, was clearly power-hungry enough to betray his city.

And losing contact with such a good pawn would be too regrettable.

Perseus felt that even if the information was not truly genuine, he might still use this rat to gather other unrelated pieces of information, or in the worst case scenario sell his information for a pretty sum to the Zanzan higher-ups.

"That's right," And his friend Leosydas could easily what Perseus might be thinking and decided to back him up, as he additionally reasoned, "Besides if we cannot contact you, how will we know who is your master? And then how can we reward him?"

Leosydas wanted to make wanting to keep in touch with Mohshin a very normal thing.

But Mohshin already had an answer for that specific question, saying, "When my lords attack the city, I and my master will move to the temple of Ramuh. You can find us there!"

It went without saying that Perseus was expected to not attack the temples.

And so it seemed the traitor's plan was to take refuge there and when the soldiers come to meet them, reveal themselves to the world.

Perseus in all honesty had to give props to the plan.

But he still wanted a way to communicate with the man, and so flat out said, "That won't do. There are a million things that could change inside the city, and I would like to be informed of it."

"Because if by any chance my army is caught while we are climbing the hills, it will be disastrous!"

"....." And seeing Perseus be so adamant, Mohshin understood he had no other choice.

But the fact was also he really did not prepare for this

So in a bit of an uncertain tone he asked the two men, "Well if my lord has any spies…you can tell me about them and I can find and meet them at a…" but then he trailed off at the end, sounding pretty weak.

Because he found his initial reasoning had broken down.

Mohshin knew Tibias had to have some spies inside the city.

After all, how could Tibias's mortal enemy have no spies inside them?

But Perseus very quickly and pointedly rejected that idea, "No, we have no spies. Sorry!"

Was Perseus telling the truth when he said this?

Of course not.

There were several spies he knew of operating inside the city.

But he would be quite a foolish king to reveal these contacts to Mohshin whom he had just met.

And given how Mohshin had worded his sentence, it seemed he was too was unwilling to reveal his residence to the spies, and wanted to find them himself.

So for a while, the two seemed to be in a deadlock.

Until Mohshin finally improvised, offering this solution,

"Okay my lords, though it is hard for you to contact me directly, perhaps if you should want to, you could blow three long trumpet calls at breakfast, and three long trumpet calls at dusk."

"And I will come to meet you the very next day!"