A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

On this day, as the temporary king of Kamos sitting in the king's city, Heymos listened absent-mindedly to the group of old and young ministers arguing for a day in the side hall.

At this moment, he is on his way back to the palace.

The setting sun in the sky was like fire, igniting the billowing fire clouds in the sky.

Seeing the flame-like crimson clouds, Heymos felt his chest tighten inexplicably, and suddenly the dream of being dyed red by flames that night appeared in his mind again.

Also, Garlan surrounded by flames in the dream...

He shook his head vigorously to get the ominous omen out of his mind.

At this moment, a long cry suddenly came from the sky.

It was the sound that Heymos was very familiar with.

Heymos looked up sharply.

A black shadow fell towards him in the air, and he reached out his hand to catch it.

The black eagle with messy feathers was lying in his arms, motionless and exhausted, even the pitch-black feathers became messy and lost their luster.

Braving the wind and rain, it rushed back day and night without eating or drinking. After it got here, it couldn't bear it anymore and fell down.

At this moment, its breath is a little weaker.

Anu?

Why did Anu, who was supposed to be with Garlan in Tozes City, fly back suddenly?

Handing Anu to the attendants around him, and telling them to send him to the veterinarian immediately, he quickly opened the brass pipe that Anu brought back.

The next moment, Heymos' pupils shrank violently.

A thin piece of cloth weighs as much as a thousand catties.

Heymos clenched Bubo's hand so much that it even trembled under the terrible weight.

The dark sky in the dream...

The burning crimson flame...

The figure of the boy reduced to ashes in the fire...

……

The scene in the dream kept shaking in his mind, making his heart beat wildly at this moment.

Heymos could even hear his own rapid heartbeat.

He took a deep breath and suppressed the beating of his heart that was almost driving him crazy.

He gritted his teeth and gave an order to his squire.

"Convey it immediately, and let all the ministers and all the people from the Military Affairs Department rush to the palace within half an hour!"

Not long after, dozens of heralds galloped out of the gate of the palace.

They spread out and flew in all directions.

…………

........................

In the lumber yard on the side of Tozes City, after the slaves had eaten their fill, they finally discovered that a group of people had come here at some unknown time.

Because the wooden carts for distributing food are here, all the slaves have already flocked to this place.When they raised their heads, they saw a young man surrounded by everyone on the high platform.

It was not yet completely dark, and the afterglow of the setting sun shone from the horizon.

The boy had blond hair as bright as the sun.

Some slaves knew Seth, and the captain, Lord Seth, actually bowed his head respectfully and followed behind the young man. Although they didn't know who the young man was, they began to tremble in their hearts.

The slaves whispered to each other, staring at the blond boy on the high platform, asking each other who it was, the scene was chaotic for a while, and there were buzzing voices everywhere.

The city guards who were maintaining order all around frowned and yelled loudly.

"A group of disrespectful guys! Kneel down and salute immediately!"

They scolded the slaves who were eyeing the boy in whispers.

"Kneel down, bow your head—"

"Do you know who you offended?"

"This is His Royal Highness Prince Aaron Landis!"

prince? !

A group of slaves suddenly panicked and bent over quickly. Most of them were so frightened that they almost knelt on the ground with their entire upper body lying on their stomachs.

They fell to the ground, pressed their hands to the ground, and pressed their foreheads tightly to the ground. Excessive fright made their whole bodies tense.

The most noble adults these slaves have ever seen in their lives are probably the consuls of Tozes.

In their view, the Consul was already too high and unattainable, but at this moment, the prince who was even more unattainable than the Consul suddenly appeared in front of them.

Prince of Aaron Landis.

That is the descendant of the gods of Aaron Landis in the legend.

There are rumors that he came to the world as the favored son of the sun god Shamash.

If you offend him, you offend the gods, you offend Shamash, and the dead soul will go to hell to be tortured——

Thinking of this, some timid slaves even trembled.

They felt inexplicably that there was an invisible and terrible force oppressing them in the air.

Everyone fell on the ground, holding their breath, not daring to take a breath.

The whole venue was eerily silent for a moment.

Garlan was standing on the high platform, and his subordinates, including Seth and Kaijos, had bowed their heads and retreated a few steps behind him.

He looked down at the black slaves lying on the ground below, seeing how stiff and even trembling they were, he couldn't help raising his hand and scratching his head.

Am I so scary?

He was a little puzzled.

He thought for a while and asked, "Are you full?"

On the quiet ground where needles could be heard, Garlan's voice was very clear.

But after he finished asking, the whole venue became even more silent.

The slaves who bowed their heads and knelt down were a little confused for a moment.

Not only them, but also Seth and the city guards who were standing in awe waiting for the prince to speak, also looked confused.

Only the blond-haired knight turned his head away, uncontrollably let out a puff, then quickly raised his hand to cover his mouth, and coughed lightly, pretending to be.

Everyone suspected that they were hallucinating.

However, the boy who made them think that he had a strange hallucination repeated his question again when no one answered.

"Are you full?"

This time, he even raised his voice.

So, the sentence "Are you full?" reverberated and reverberated in the empty sky of the entire Kichang.

Everyone: "..."

The slaves raised their heads slightly, looked at each other, and looked at each other, for a while, they didn't know how to answer, and they didn't dare to answer.

After a long time, a skinny boy who was still young and looked underage secretly raised his head, glanced at Garlan on the stage, remembered the bowl of fragrant rice porridge just now, he swallowed, finally, hunger overcame fear, With a heartbroken heart, he answered Garlan's words.

"Your Highness, no..." He gritted his teeth and said, "I'm not full!"

Half a child, this is the most edible time, a bowl of rice porridge and a piece of cake can only be used as a cushion for the stomach.

Now that he had opened his mouth, he went all out.

"That...great, honorable, kind prince..."

He clumsily patted Garlan's ass, carefully watching Garlan's face.

"Could you give us some more food? We'd appreciate it."

Seeing the emaciated young slave looking at him awkwardly and nervously, Garlan smiled.

"Okay." He said, "When I finish speaking, I will give you more food until you are full."

The young slave froze for a moment.

The prince had a really nice smile.

he thought to himself.

He was still uneasy in his heart, but seeing that smile, he felt inexplicably calmed down.

Someone who can smile so beautifully must be a very nice person.

He thought so.

Seeing that Garlan and the young slave finished talking with a smile, it wasn't scary, and they promised to give them more food, the other slaves were overjoyed, and all of them felt less nervous.

Listening to the prince's tone, he has something to say to them.

Many slaves thought about it.

Lowly slaves like them, even commoners look down on them, so what will His Royal Highness say to them?

"Do you want to be freed from slavery?"

Garlan's next words made many slaves who had just relaxed feel their hearts tighten again, their heads lowered, and they pressed tightly against the ground.

"I know if some of you are saying that while the pirates are attacking the city and the army has no time to take care of it, you can resist together and then escape, so that you are no longer low-status slaves."

The prince's words made all the slaves tremble even more, and their breathing became short of breath.

"However, you can't escape." Garlan said, "Not only you, but also me, and the rest of Tozes City, everyone can't escape."

"The city of Tozes has been surrounded by pirates. Do you think that if the pirates come in, they will let you go?"

will not.

All slaves knew the cruelty of those pirates.

"When Tozes fell, no matter who it was, no matter what their status was, they could not escape the fate of being killed."

"This is a crisis, but at the same time, for you who are slaves, this is also an opportunity."

Said the boy on the high platform, looking down at everyone with his golden eyes.

"Now, the troops defending the city are not enough, we need manpower."

The hearts of the slaves tightened.

Does this mean that they are going to fight the pirates on the battlefield?

Fear of the battlefield and death began to grow in their hearts.

"I know that if you go to the battlefield to fight against the pirates, you will have to sacrifice your life, and you will not be willing."

Garland said,

"So I won't force you. Those who don't want to go to the battlefield don't have to go."

The tense slaves suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

"However, the price of being the one who is willing to give his life to protect this city - any slave, no matter what his past is, as long as he has not violated the laws of Aaron Landis."

The boy took a deep breath and raised his voice.

"Any slave, as long as he kills a pirate, I will abolish his status as a slave and give him a freeman."

At the moment when Garlan's words fell, the entire Kiba fell silent.

It was as if time stood still at this moment.

Immediately afterwards, there was a bang, like a volcano erupting violently, and the entire wood yard exploded.

Once a slave, always a slave.

Not only myself, but also my children, grandchildren, and offspring are slaves to mermaids for generations.

They will always be the most humble, humble, and worthless existence in this country.

Maybe there will be a few slaves who are lucky and born with excellent force, who will be favored by their masters and be abolished as slaves.But such slaves are rare, and only a few have been produced in the past thousand years.

Born slaves because they were born sinful.

Being abolished as a slave is something that slaves dare not even dream about.

There are also a few calm and knowledgeable people among this group of slaves.

In the beginning, when the other slaves were emotionally fluctuating with Garlan's words, they all just lowered their heads and knelt on the ground, motionless, and their expressions didn't change much.

Most of these people are quite prestigious and charismatic among the slaves.

At this moment, they couldn't restrain the shocked expressions on their faces, and they raised their heads suddenly, looking at the prince above with disbelieving eyes.

Their eyes couldn't believe it, but there was a trace of deep desire in them.

There may also be slaves who have been enslaved to the point of numbness of thinking, and are even unwilling to regain their freedom. However, for these self-aware people, as long as there is a little possibility, they will cling to it like a life-saving straw. .

They yearn to get rid of this humble status.

Garlan continued talking.

"If you can kill more pirates, you can use this credit in exchange for your relatives and friends to become free citizens, and you can also exchange it for food and money. As long as you have enough military exploits, you can even exchange it for Tozes's house land."

The buzzing in the woodyard became louder this time.

Among the whispering slaves, there was a strong, dark-skinned, middle-aged slave looking up at the prince above.

His appearance looks extremely simple and honest.

Before that, no matter what Garlan said, he just lowered his eyes and said nothing, his eyes were calm, like a pool of stagnant water, unable to see any clues.

But now, he looked at Garlan with an unprecedented look in his eyes.

The muscles all over his body were tense, his big fists were tightly clenched, and the veins on the back of his hands were bulging.

"His Royal Highness Prince!"

he suddenly shouted loudly.

His voice was unusually loud and deafening.

"As long as the pirates are killed, the status of slaves can be abolished, do you keep your word!"

The words of this middle-aged slave startled the surrounding city guards, and they all yelled angrily.

"Presumptuous guy!"

"How dare you question His Royal Highness—"

"Damn things!"

Some of the city guards even turned their heads angrily, and said directly to Garland.

"Your Highness, please allow me to punish this slave who dared to offend you!"

The slave didn't speak, and stared straight at Garlan with a pair of eyeballs.

At this moment, he seemed to have forgotten where he was, and he only had Garlan in his eyes.

This person has always been a powerful and charismatic person among the slaves. His loud shout made the buzzing Kiba quiet down.

At this moment, tens of thousands of pairs of eyes turned to the high platform in front of them.

Quietly, nervously, and with irrepressible hope, they waited for the prince's answer.

On this silent land, Garlan stretched out his hand.

He stretched out his right hand in front of him.

"At this moment, what I say will be witnessed by Shamash under his gaze."

At the moment when the boy spoke, it seemed that the sun god Shamash heard his voice.

The fiery afterglow of the setting sun fell on him, like a layer of golden-red flame covering him.

Looking down at the slaves kneeling below, Garlan's right hand stretched forward was slowly clenched into a fist under the gaze of the crowd, reflecting the afterglow of the setting sun.

That was the act of Aaron Landis making an oath to Shamash, the god in charge of oaths.

"Any slave who has never violated the national laws of Aaron Landis, as long as he makes meritorious service in the defense of the city, I will pardon him as a slave."

He says,

"In the name of Prince Aaron Landis, I hereby make this covenant with you—"

The boy's loud voice echoed over the empty wooden yard.

The adult slave took a deep breath.

Then, he leaned down again.

Like all the slaves who had already bowed their heads, he put his hands on the ground, lowered his head deeply, and pressed his forehead tightly to the ground.

This time, he did it from the bottom of his heart, bowing his head to the young prince.

He will remember this moment for the rest of his life.

…………

........................

【Tozeth's oath】.

History calls this event that way.

That was Aaron Landis's first large-scale emancipation event.

It is also the starting point for the shaken slavery.

According to historical records, in the history of Aaron Landis, during the reign of the young king known as the 'Wise King', countless slaves of Aaron Landis were liberated.

Although he failed to completely abolish slavery, his behavior began to shake the cornerstone of slavery that was the mainstream at that time, and accelerated the demise of slavery.

This is one of the reasons why he was called the "Wise King" by later generations.

……

And, this is also the beginning of the general who loyally followed the wise king all his life and made great achievements in battle. Because of his slave background, he was known as the "slave general" who left his name in history and set foot on the battlefield.