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Translator: adomman
Editor: Snorri
Most of what Aesop had were unextracted parangon cores as there was insufficient manpower with the skills to extract the parangons. The caveman tribes also learned the technique of Duc, but their level of mastery and proficiency was far from being able to compare with the Duc miners. Not only did they have low efficiency, but they also damaged quite a lot of the cores in the process of extraction.
Aesop simply ordered most of the cores to be stored, and these cores had already piled up like a small mountain, just waiting for the arrival of Duc’s miners. In the eyes of many people, the Duc miners were quite incredible, able to extract the parangons with just a hammer, performing the task far faster and better than even a mage.
Aesop had a discussion with Joshua and decided that the miners of Duc would fully focus on the extraction of parangons for now, and need not even do the work of smelting which they were also good at. The city of Salem would send people to build houses for them, and they could also bring up any requests they had. Joshua agreed and ordered the miners to start working the next day and to extract the parangons in the shortest time possible.
There was also another thing that surprised Aesop. The 60 or so miners did not only enter the city with the squad of guards he sent, but they also brought back more than 60 prisoners, and all of them were strong and powerful highlander giants! These miners were too strong! If it really came down to war, the twelve Judges could also lead the army in battle.
According to the custom of the continent, prisoners of war were reduced to slaves, and half of these slaves belonged to the leader of the warriors who captured the prisoners, while the other half belonged to the kingdom and cities, just like the distribution of the spoils of war. Slaves were considered personal wealth, while kingdoms and cities had other uses for such slaves, such as the exchange of their own captured personnel or the demanding of ransom.
With so many prisoners of war, Aesop could even dance in joy. Joshua gave him a suggestion and told him not to dispose of prisoners of war in the traditional way. Instead, they would tell these prisoners of war that they could pay for the ransom by their own efforts. As long as they work for the city of Salem, they would receive part of the payment, and if this payment accumulated to the amount of ransom required, they would regain their freedom.
Aesop was stunned at first, before breaking out in laughter. Patting Joshua’s shoulder, he said: “Before you came, someone recommended you to be the advisor of Salem, you are indeed talented! The residents of Duc are traditionally a clan of miners, but I think they should be a clan of merchants instead since they are so good at doing business! Not only will it weaken the resistance of those prisoners of war, and discourage them from disrupting or neglecting their work, it will also make them work more actively!
Joshua nodded. “Yes, whoever dares to cause trouble, their pay will be deducted, and if there is an exchange of prisoners of war, they will also be arranged for the last. …If we capture more prisoners of war in the future, we treat them in the same way. Speaking of exchanging prisoners of war, the cost of training these giant warriors is great, so I think a giant warrior should be exchanged for at least three prisoners of war on our side for it to be a fair exchange.”
Aesop smiled. “Okay, from now on, you are the advisor of Salem. There are many matters where I will need your help in listing the rules.”
At the same time that the Ducians arrived in Salem, there were two major events in the city, and Aesop was so busy that he was urgently in need of competent help, so the appointment of Joshua as advisor came at the right time. The first major event was the official opening of the Charcoal Marsh trade route. The thorny vegetation was cleared, the swamp was filled, and a gravel foundation was laid with baked dry earth. The trade route was wide enough to allow two ordinary wagons to travel side by side, and there were three resting stations in the swamp along the trade route.
The trade route was originally planned to be opened in three months, but the actual construction period was advanced by half a month. It took a month for Amon to open up a two-man wide path in the swamp, and the workers from the city of Syah started working from the entrance after Amon entered the swamp. A month and a half after Amon came out of the swamp, the official trade route was opened.
With the strong support of Golier, Governor Schmul mobilized 1,500 workers, who were all strong and sturdy young men. Something worth mentioning was that these people did not go back after constructing the trade route, but directly entered the Plains of Duc and joined the city of Salem. The city of Salem was short of manpower, so it was naturally a good thing to get so many strong workers all of a sudden. However, Aesop had mixed feelings about it.
These 1500 workers came from a complex background, including rogue proletarians, bankrupt craftsmen, soldiers with military records, and even exiled prisoners, punished scoundrels and local hooligans from the city of Syah and the surrounding areas. Many of them had been conscripted into the army and had received military training, but were troublemakers and unstable elements in their hometowns, and many of them were regarded by the townspeople as a scourge.
They had heard that the Plains of Duc was a place of opportunity, where vagabonds with nothing would even become great lords, and that the lord of the city of Salem was once a slave. Governor Schmul was banishing all these problematic personnel in his territory to Salem, so it was considered a win for both sides in some way.
Aesop was also vexed on how he should manage this group of people, but Joshua quickly formulated the latest decree of the city, which was to integrate all of them into the army. As long as they obeyed the management of the city and achieved a merit in the future, they could get an appropriate piece of land in return. The city of Salem was now lacking in everything except land.
From the two battle fortresses in the north to the fortress at the edge of the Charcoal Marsh in the southwest corner, a 100km radius around the city of Salem was under their control, and a circle could be easily drawn on the sandbox to produce a piece of land for these explorers to claim with their merits. Thanks to the “generosity” of the former Pharaoh Ramses II, Amon had drawn such a circle on the map of the Plains of Duc and the Pharaoh “rewarded” him with this territory.
The second major event in Salem was that the battle fortresses on both sides of the road to the north have finally been built, the magical formations have been laid out, and the walls and fortifications have long been completed. There were two things missing: a large number of ordinary parangons to be placed in the various positions of the magical formations, as well as sufficient soldiers to be stationed there. After the arrival of the miners from Duc, the missing parangons were extracted in a short time, and the magical formations were finally ready to be operated.
Both battle fortresses were capable of housing nearly a thousand soldiers and contained warehouses stocked with various supplies that could hold up for a long time. Each had a magical formation that could protect the fortress when activated and could launch counterattacks under the control of mages. They were designed by Amon together with Lynk, using the magical formations of Memphis and Bablon City as references. Although it was only a small-scale fortress, it was still surprisingly expensive to build.
Fifteen hundred folks officially joined the city of Salem, making the population of Salem more than 7000, and excluding the old, the young, the women, and the craftsmen who had to work, the number of soldiers that could be organized in the time of war was about three thousand.
Aesop sent a thousand soldiers to be stationed in these two battle fortresses, each with 500 men, and this was the largest standing army he could send. The other people in the city of Salem still had all kinds of duties to perform, such as cultivating the wilderness, smelting fine iron, hunting all kinds of monsters, raising livestock, and processing supplies. It was only when the big war started could they take up arms and become soldiers of the city.
The city of Salem now had 1000 permanent troops stationed outside the city, with 2000 reserve troops in the city. These reserve troops would usually take some time to gather for drills, and such a force was barely equivalent to the size of a legion. There was no shortage of leadership talent, as the main commanders of the Ra Legion of the Egyptian Empire were all in Salem.
The head of the Ra Legion was Amon, the chief priest was Idu, the front commander was Hardedef, and the captain of the personal guard was Metatro. Back then, the Ra Legion was also a recently formed miscellaneous army and was trained by Amon to become an elite division. Now, under the leadership of Hardedef and Idu, the city of Salem seemed to be going through a reincarnation, repeating what had happened in Ra Legion. The thirty-six guards that Hardedef had brought to the Plains of Duc had become the generals of the city of Salem and were usually responsible for taking turns to drill the military formations.
The day the fortresses were built, the Salem Legion was also established. Unlike the legions in other parts of the continent, the Salem Legion did not have the position of the chief priest, and the Head of the Legion directly led the priests to coordinate with the front-line fighters. Amon was already a god on the altar, currently training in the Garden of Eden, so he naturally would no longer be the Head of Legion. Metatro was also training in the Garden of Eden, temporarily unable to go to battle, so Idu became the Head of Legion, while the front commander was still Hardedef.
Although Idu and Hardedef had the experience of forming and training the Ra Legion, they knew very well in their hearts that the current Salem Legion could not be compared with the Ra Legion back then. Although the Ra Legion was a recently formed miscellaneous army at that time, it was after all a regular legion of the Ejyptian Empire with 5000 official legionnaires, who were all at least first-level warriors.
The Salem Legion had only a thousand standing soldiers and two thousand reserves, nearly a thousand of whom were not warriors. On the other hand, the total number of the Ra Legion plus logistics personnel reached 20000 at the time of the war, and Salem did not have that many non-combat personnel to support it, relying heavily on the merchant routes to replenish supplies.
Idu and Hardedef had never even commanded such a small army before, and they were facing the elite giant legions of the Assyrian kingdom. However, unlike the top generals, the people of Salem were confident of victory, in large part because of the prestige of the god Amon, who had been a powerful general in the past and was almost invincible in battle.
The good thing was that the merchant routes were opened at the right time, and the people and supplies were replenished in time. Theo really contributed a lot this time, as he organized a huge merchant group to follow right behind the workers opening the route, and entered the city of Salem the moment the route was established. Aesop personally went to the pass at the edge of the Charcoal Marsh to welcome his former master and his merchant group into the city of Salem and hosted a banquet in the city lord’s residence.
As Theo looked at the magnificent city of Salem, he was full of emotions. His former slave had become the city lord, and this place was really full of miracles, no wonder there were so many wandering explorers who had entered the Plains of Duc in search of dreams and opportunities! He drank a little too much at the banquet, and finally put his arm around Aesop’s shoulder and said: “Aesop, to think that you are now the lord of the city! As for me, I’ve been working hard for so many years, and I’ve even risked my life in war for the sake of a noble title.”
Aesop said: “Master Theo, you should look at others, among the merchants who did business with you, which of them is richer than you right now? You already have an official title, and your business is much bigger than before. There are few merchants as successful as you on the continent, so just put your mind at ease.”
Aesop actually called him Master Theo like he used to, and the great merchant was so excited that he drank several cups of wine at once. “I was just feeling emotional upon seeing you, usually my mind is extremely at ease, otherwise how can I grow so fat? Was it easy to expand my business to this degree? Have you ever seen a merchant who personally crosses the desert just to collect debts? It was all because we encountered danger in the desert that we were able to meet Amon, no, God Amon!”
Aesop laughed. “Yes, you are indeed better than others, and you also put in more effort than others, so your business is naturally bigger as well! I’m really surprised to see you this time, I didn’t expect you to personally lead the merchant group to Salem.”
Theo patted the fats on his chest: “Isn’t that my style, to personally examine business opportunities at the first moment I get? Furthermore, it was God Amon who summoned me, so how can I just send my men instead of coming myself?”
Aesop asked again: “Master Theo is really great, you were able to bring so many weapons and armor as well as war horses at one go, how did you get through the checkpoints?”
Theo replied with some complacency: “Warhorses are easy to do because we have to travel long distances, each wagon has a few more horses, so we can just mix the warhorses among the other horses. As for weapons and armor, don’t forget that I was once the Quartermaster of the Ra Legion, so I naturally have contacts. The governor of Cape, Lord Drick, and the Ra Legion stationed at the border were also very willing to give me face. I paid more than sufficient tariffs, and they let me pass without much trouble. The city of Syah was even more cooperative, and asked me if I needed to purchase another batch of supplies nearby!”
Aesop stood up and said: “Master Theo, let me make a toast to you! You have solved the pressing problem of Salem, and to be frank, we will soon be at war with Enlil City in the north, and there is a serious shortage of logistics personnel. That trade route is very important, so we still need your continued strong support.”
Theo also stood up and drank from his cup. “To God Amon, cheers! I also have a hope to open a merchant house in the city of Salem, and when this war is won, it will be a great victory for me as well.”
Aesop immediately nodded and said: “No problem, I will now issue the paperwork, designate the best location in the city, and immediately send people to build your store and warehouse. You don’t have to worry about anything, just focus on doing business.”
……
The big war was approaching, and Amon was still in the Garden of Eden. Geshtinanna was still constructing the spatial magic formation, and except for Metatro, Gabriel, and Moses, everyone else in the Garden of Eden had returned to Salem. Metatro temporarily lost his power, Moses could not enter the Plains of Duc, and Amon did not want Gabriel to participate in this war.
The two fortresses north of Salem were each garrisoned with 500 soldiers, and the magical formations were ready to be operated but to bring out the full power of the formation, two more supreme mages were needed to preside over it. Raphael was just in time and volunteered to help out by guarding one of the fortresses.
Raphael was not a warrior on the battlefield, but operating a magical formation in the fortress was a moderate task. El Mar also requested to go together with Raphael in the same fortress, saying that in the heat of battle, they could take turns to operate the magical formation. She was worried about Raphael’s safety. This IronBack King had now transformed into a beautiful girl, and she was also a supreme mage.
Aesop originally wanted to send El Mar to another fortress, but El Mar insisted on staying with Raphael. Since Idu and Hardedef had to stay in Salem to oversee various matters, he could only look to Lynk for help.
When Lynk saw Aesop’s look, he took the initiative to smile and said: “Lord Aesop, now that you and Idu are the commanders, treat me as a subordinate and send me to guard the other fortress.”
When all the preparations for the war were completed, Aesop sent a letter and an object to Felix, the lord of Enlil City. The letter told Felix that the Ducians had arrived in Salem and asked him to come to Salem as a guest to meet in person. But Felix would never come because the letter also said that Koria and a hundred other giants had been defeated or killed and that there were sixty-two prisoners of war surviving.
If Felix wanted to come to Salem as a guest, he should bring with him the ransom for the return of the prisoners, which is twenty parangons each! And also swear in the name of Enlil that he will never invade the city of Salem and that his giant soldiers will accept Salem’s employment to continue mining iron and parangons in the mines, and Salem will pay half of the price.
The item sent with the letter was a large lacquered wooden box containing the head of Koria, which had not yet decayed after the use of magic and chemicals to preserve it, and his terrified expression could still be seen clearly on his face. Aesop knew very well that once the letter and the wooden box reached Felix, the war would immediately start.
Aesop had been trying to prevent the outbreak of war, trying to delay it as long as possible, but now, he chose to go to war, and it was because of the words that Amon had said to him. Amon was once a general of the Ejyptian empire who commanded thousands of troops and had studied various military books under the guidance of Maria, and he had said this to Aesop before he left Salem –
“Some people treat war as a business, but the battlefield is definitely not a place for business. Doing business may also be profitable for both sides, but on the battlefield, the warriors on both sides will only be killed or injured, more or less. I know you’ve been building up your strength, and Salem is far from being strong enough, but remember that the other side has a kingdom behind them and Enlil. Your strength is growing, but the enemy’s strength is also growing.
If war is inevitable, the most appropriate time is not when you think you are strong, because by then, the enemy may already be much stronger. You have to choose the time when the contrast of power between the two sides is most favorable, that is the opportunity for the weak. It is impossible to predict victory or defeat, but if you decide to meet your fate, do not be afraid beforehand, and do not regret afterward.”
So Aesop chose to go to war when everything was ready and the morale of the people was at its peak, and his letter seemed to tell Felix the words: “Though you chose to start the war, the war does not end when you please.”
