Herald of Steel-Chapter 1508: Instructions for Menes

"You have become taller, nephew,"

Lord Iyazid appeared like a warm, harmless grandfather who lived right next door as he greeted Alexander cordially with a gentle gaze.

But then his eyes quickly flashed a rebuking glint, poking him, "It's just that your anger seems to have also grown with you. Tsk, tsk."

Pursing his thick lips, he objected to Alexander with a shaking head.

"This is not good, this is not good. You cannot talk about His Majesty like this. And never so openly. Tsk, tsk, learn to control your anger better."

There was both wisdom and warning in his words.

"....." And Alexander too once again felt a wave of embarrassment unlike any other time. Indeed, he should have been much more careful with his tongue, especially given where he was.

This was the capital, not his hometown- Zanzan.

It was just that the current circumstances had made him recently quite… testy.

"You are correct, my lord. My deepest apologies, I was… wrong."

However, the man did not try to make any excuse and decided to directly confess. Alexander understood trying to argue his situation would do little to help here. Whatever the reason it might be, it was a fact that he let his tongue run loose.

And the gesture appeared to please the elderly lord quite well, him swiftly nodding his head, "Mmmm, it is good that you understand. People have lost their heads for far smaller things. No matter what, you should not think you are all that different."

At this point, the elderly man suddenly lowered his voice and craning his head forward, whispered in a low growl which only Alexander could hear,

"You boy should also be already aware why all this has happened. Even him letting me come here was a great battle. Pasha Farzah has been shouting about this from the morning… until his voice gave out. Even then he was not allowed to receive his granddaughters. So absolutely do not act out when you meet His Majesty."

The elder man gave the warning out of genuine concern. Alexander's trade had made his family filthy rich overnight, letting them reach a peak they didn't think was possible even just a few years ago.

So he would hate to see the trade between the powers break down.

On the opposite side, news of the gravity of the situation surprised Alexander a bit because he did not think the situation was that bad.

He turned to give Lord Iyazid a meaningful look, wishing to learn more.

But then a second later, restrained himself, thinking better of it.

Given he was already here, he could not change anything even if he wanted to.

So what would happen, would happen.

"Uncle Iyazid, when are we going to enter the city? Alexander did not give us any lunch!"

The two men were giving each other an understanding look, when Azura suddenly cried out from the back like so, the black beauty's eyes burning into flames of impatience.

The pampered princess was truly hungry, she was made to 'starve' since Alexander had whipped his men to march as quickly as possible.

"Ahhhh Your Highness, my apologies, my apologies," While hearing the crisp, charming, lark like voice, the Lord Iyazid's face quickly broke into a big smile, quickly going over to greet the twins,

"Have you not had anything to eat, princess? Oh, this is a grave crime, a grave crime. How could Alexander have been so careless? I will be sure to complain to your grandfather about this. Now come, come! Let us get ready," In this way, the elderly lord rapidly placated the angry maidens, gesturing them to get into their carriage and start for the city.

While from the back, Alexander's lips half twitched in incredulity at seeing this, muttering under his breath,

"What are you two crying about? You just rode on a carriage the whole day. I even gave you a whole basket of nuts, fruits and cookies to keep you filled! So why are you making it sound like I made you walk all the way here?"

Alexander could already see the earful he was going to get from that old man when he learnt how he had 'mistreated' his granddaughters.

This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

But Azira and Azura were never the most reasonable of girls. They usually did whatever they liked and few ever dared to stop them.

Just like how they also called Lord Iyazid 'uncle' even though the man was their grandfather's peer and should have shared the title.

The two princesses simply insisted on the name because they posited they were from Lady Inayah's generation, and the gentle lord simply flattered them.

Thus much of their antics were hardly a surprise for him.

Hence leaving the two excited princesses to get ready, Alexander decided to meet up with his general for one last round of instructions, giving him a few last minute pointers.

Among which the main issue,

"Menes, the fair that is going on here… be careful. Do not just let the men freely go out. I…"

"Do not worry, my lord! I will not let anyone leave the camp!" Thinking he understood the ask, Menes quickly snatched the words from Alexander's mouth, producing a confident, knowing look.

"...Let me finish," Alexander however only coolly flashed his palm and with a simple look, corrected him,

"It will not be wise to just cage everyone in here when such a huge fair is going on just next to them… the men will feel very agitated hearing all the music and sounds and not being able to even see it. It is almost a given they will start sneaking off regardless of the gates."

"Not to mention there are also quite a few Zanzanians in the legion. They still believe in the Ramuh faith and coming to Adhan during such a sacred time and not being even able to attend the fair…it will hit morale extremely hard. I do not want such grievances to fester."

Each of Alexander's words struck the black general like a stroke of inspiration, his eyes widening.

Menes did not think like that because he felt the men leaving would disturb the camp's discipline, as well as even causing trouble for regular people.

Two worries that he quickly let Alexander know,

"I understand you wanting to let these men enjoy a bit, but if you let them just go like so, I am afraid the camp will be deserted in less than an hour. Who would want to stay here when all the fun is on the opposite side of the wall?"

"And these men are not the most mannered. What if they start harassing the shops…. or worse the pilgrims? You already are having problems with the king! Won't an incident here cause even more ire?"

Alexander was honestly a bit surprised by the rebuke, turning to give Menes an approving look. The previous him would not have been able to make this argument, especially the second one.

Menes would have only groaned about the hot blooded, armed men intimidating the shopkeepers into lowering their prices to uncomfortable levels and causing the ruckus… just like most armies and mercenaries tended to do.

But now, instead of focusing on the petty mess, the experienced 'senator' looked more on the political aspect and what impact this would have on the overall reign of the land.

It seemed he had grown quite a bit in his last five years of office.

Something that quite pleased Alexander.

"Do not worry… that is easy," Then turning to look him in the eyes with a clear, limpid expression, the pasha breezily waved his hand, proposing,

"Just have the men be allowed to leave in groups. Each day let two battalions (600 men each) enjoy the fair. They can leave in the morning and should be back before sundown. The rotation will take only five days."

"And the celebrations should last more than a week anyway. So everyone will have more than enough time. Just ask them not to fraternize with the women too much."

Menes let out a small, helpless smile at the last ask. Because it was so much more difficult than what Alexander made it out to be.

Of course by 'franterizing' it meant getting it on with the 'working girls' here.

Problem was they were dotted around the entire fair almost like raisins on a fruit cake.

A man unaccompanied by a woman could not even get a few steps in the fair without a random 'girl' pulling you by the arm and looking at you with fluttering her eyelashes, promising a good time.

Although this was also hardly surprising- this was the biggest festival season of the year, and influenced by the festive mood, it was too easy to tempt a man to seek some fun in bed after a whole day of 'praying'.

In fact, given the immense numbers and the limited supply, this was always the busiest time of the year for the girls.

Business was so that it was not even uncommon to see many of the more popular girls becoming a bit bowl legged by the end of the day, their private parts sore and swollen from all the day long services, while the coin purses hanging by the hips jingled amorously with each step, showing their haul for the day.

Bursting with gold, that mesmerizing clink, clink note sounded like music to the owner's ears, bringing large content smiles to the hardworking ladies.

In fact, the job was so lucrative during the season that it was not uncommon for many unmarried and even married women to take up the job part time.