Herald of Steel

Chapter 879 Papando

"Welcome Your Highness! Welcome to our humble fief." The large, rotund lord with multiple layers of flabs on his face produced a greasy smile as he personally greeted his sovereign at the gates of his city with such words, euphorically shouting with open arms,

"We have always believed that you would be able to drive the invaders back Your Grace, "Hahaha! We have always believed."

Perseus too exchanged some flowery pleasantries with the man, before the portly noble escorted the embodiment of loyalty and his entourage back to his mansion where a large feast was already prepared for them.

And as the large man escorted the king in his own carriage, he even let out a bit of a sigh of relief,

"Your Majesty, we are very lucky that you came when you came. My men have already detected a lot of enemy riders around the vicinity. I think they are preparing to attack the city!"

The man\'s fleshy man\'s face trembled at the reveal.

This was another reason why he was so happy to see Perseus, thinking them as being here to protect him.

The king hearing this reveal however had to try hard not to roll his eyes, as he scoffed to himself, \'You overestimate yourself.\'

To the city lord, this city might seem like the be all end all of all things, but Perseus knew for someone like Alexander, it was one among numerous settlements that the man might not even know existed.

At least that was the case for Perseus, who did not even know the name of this city of less than 10,000 or the noble residing here and had to ask his retainers to familiarize himself.

So Perseus would be astounded if Alexander chose to attack his unknown, nothing of a place.

However outwardly, he smiled and nodded, stoking the prideful man by boasting about the riches and importance of this place and promising him protection from Alexander no matter what.

"Do not worry! Since I\'m here, Alexander will not dare to do anything. Not after the thrashing I gave him." Perseus presented a very confident and strong facade in front of his retainer, hoping to instill trust and confidence in the man.

And from the looks of it, it worked as the other side flashed all his pearly whites.

Now, it had to be noted that the only ones to accompany Perseus to the city lord\'s large mansion were his retinue of about 30 men plus the royal guards, amounting to around 300 men in total.

As for the rest of the approximately 25,000 men traveling with Perseus, well most of them camped outside the city, as the relatively small metropolis would not have been able to house such a huge number of men even if they had wanted to.

Only some of the higher ranked mercenaries such as Petricuno and the leader of the Kaiser mercenaries were allowed into the city, along with some 3,000 of their men, as Perseus wanted to calm the frustrated men down and let them get some rest and relaxation of their own.

Which of course meant hitting the bars, taverns, and most of all, the brothels.

This the men did the moment they entered the city, as they started their merriments while there was still light, around late afternoon.

And by the time the sun had set three to four hours later, most of them were blind drunk, or with a woman in their hands.

As for the people inside the mansion like Perseus, well it was only around that time they were only starting to commence their feast, after having refreshed themselves.

The king personally found himself sitting in front of a grand table strewn with a huge variety of delicacies, with the most abundant item being meats of various kinds- foxes, badgers, peasants, boars, etc. cooked in various ways, the most iconic one being meat glazed with honey and sugar syrup.

Although seeing that particular item, Perseus half lamented, as he understood that they were contributing to Alexander\'s economy even when they were at war with each other.

The tragedy.

In addition to the meats, there were also expensive white breads of many kinds, a variety of fresh fishes caught from the nearby river that very day, and a few other local delectable delicacies, such as a porridge type soup made with egg, meat, and cheese.

Such a large feast had been of course possible due to the fact that Perseus had sent riders to the man a few days ago, informing him of his intention to stay there the night.

Hence the grand arrangements.

And although there was nothing Perseus had not seen here before, nor was the scale anything impressive to him personally, still, weary from travel and still mourning the loss of his sons, Perseus found solace in decent food and good company.

\'At least tonight will get me a nice, soft bed and some good night\'s sleep.\' Perseus thought anticipatedly, while the \'extra large\' city lord personally poured drink for him, a toady smile plastered on his face, as he commented in a slightly rueful voice,

"Your Majesty, it is a shame that the Crown Prince could not join us. We would have all immensely enjoyed his company."

"Mnnn… I had to leave Philips in charge of the army outside. You know how unruly these men can be."

To the subtle inquiry, Perseus revealed the reason with a short hum.

"I see. I see." And the reply got a heavy nod of the head from the other party, as he then graciously proposed, "May I then arrange for some of the food and drinks to be delivered to him? I\'m sure His Highness would enjoy some of our specialties!"

The city lord continued to butter up Perseus like so, exerting himself to the utmost of his abilities, while at a relatively secluded corner of a room, there resided a pair of eyes who were looking the duo with scorn and disgust, as the owner occasionally took a sip of the wine from a silver goblet to hide his malevolence.

The man standing there was Papando, the city lord\'s eldest son and heir.

And as evidenced by how he was not invited to sit around the table hosting the king and his retinue by his noble father, it could easily be discerned thatthe relationship between the two was not harmonious to say the least

In fact, it was even an open secret among the higher ups in the city that the two men detested each other.

And if Tibian law had not made it so that even a father could not change the fact that the eldest son would become the successor of his estate, Papando might not only be the heir but be six feet under.

As for the reason behind this bad blood, well it was multifold.

But perhaps the latest one was their disagreement over who they should ally with, Alexander or Perseus.

And as it would be guessed, the father was old fashioned and much preferred to serve the king to his last breath.

While the son saw the rising star Alexander for who he was and urged his father to switch allegiance.

He had pointed out that no matter how much Perseus tried, the king was unlikely to be able to turn the tide, further warning his father that the king they served had sacked one of his own cities and that it would be unwise to trust him.

However such an endeavor had only gotten him a very strong slap to the face and multiple curses from his father as the man refused to believe any of that, and punished his son too for listening to such gossip.

Thus for Papando, seeing his father ingratiate himself with the eventual \'loser\' of the war incensed him.

But he ultimately comforted himself with the memory from his very afternoon.

"Estemeed conquerors, the king will be staying at our place tonight. We are willing to open the gates sometime after dark to prove our loyalty to Lord Alexander." Papando had covertly ridden out to meet the leader of the \'enemy riders\' that the city lord had alluded to Perseus and offered him such a deal of the century.

"Oh? Why would you betray your father and king?" But instead of gladly accepting it, Papando was first and foremost asked this question.

And it was posed by none other Grahtos himself!

For he was the man in charge here.

As for the reason why this powerful man was twenty kilometers behind enemy lines, well he had by chance wanted to go on a ride with his horse as a way to relax and unwind, and decided to accompany the foraging party.

And it seemed lady luck was waiting for him with such an opportunity.

"I cannot follow a king who sacks his own city. However, my father refuses to see it."

"In that aspect, I respect the Pasha of Zanzan much more. He is a great and benevolent ruler who has warned us of the danger."

"So I have decided to follow him, this is the best case for me and my city."

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