Herald of Steel

Alexander walked away from Mikaya's room feeling quite a different emotion from how he felt coming to it.

He was apprehensive and a bit reluctant back then, while now his heart seemed set aflutter.

'It was quite the conversation,' Alexander hummed in glee, thinking back on the myriad of emotions he had felt in that room, from fury to intrigue to scheming to astonishment.

And at the end of it all, he managed to catch a fish he did not even think could be caught.

Alexander turned to look up at the sky and found it to be leaning west, indicating a time of around 3 in the afternoon.

'I was there for almost three hours,' Alexander lampooned at the blistering speed that time seemed to flow.

It had always fascinated him that time seemed to move faster or slower depending on your mood and actions.

'Time is relative,' Alexander quoted Einstein as he decided to skip lunch and meet up with his slaves.

He thus quickly exited his house, got on a horse, and rode to the servants' quarters about a kilometer away.

Along the way, he saw all the slaves and servants stop what they were doing and bow or prostate towards him.

This did not sit well with him and made up his mind to bring that issue with Takfiz, who was an elderly slave he had appointed as the two thousand slaves' representative.

"My lord, this lowly slave greets you." Speaking of the devil, the old man with a mass of white hair ran as fast as his weak legs could carry him to greet Alexander the moment his horse stopped and the second Alexander planted his feet on the ground, the hunched-back man bent his back to kneel and then kiss Alexander's shoes.

"Takfiz, I told you repeatedly not to do this," Alexander had a helpless tone to his voice.

He certainly did not like the idea of a man old enough to be his grandfather who such things.

But even when he repeatedly expressed his dislike, the old man would give the same hackneyed reply, "Hehe, this old bone does not know any other way to serve lord master,"

Alexander only pursed his lips but did not say anything.

What was he going to do?

Punish an old man for respecting him?

Thus, since the old man liked it so much and refused to budge, Alexander had little choice other than to agree, unless he wanted to become tyrannical enough and use force to make him comply.

Seeing no point continuing this conversation, ALexnader told the man to stand up and moved on, asking "How is Kala?"

"Good, good," Hearing the name come out from Alexander's mouth seemed to make this old, wrinkled man's face light up with glee as he then turned to look back and shouted, "Kala, boy come here." while at the same time gesturing towards a small boy who was playing by himself with some wooden toys.

The boy seemed to sense his grandfather's call as he looked to see the waving hand, and recognizing Alexander standing next to him, quickly ran towards him.

The short, scrawny boy was Kala, and his story was both tragic and common.

He was born deaf and so once his parents found out, they heartlessly sold him to a slave trader to get rid of this burden.

But his grandfather did not have the heart to lose his grandson like that.

He did not have the heart to live with the knowledge that his own flesh and blood, because he could not communicate, would most likely live the rest of his life in a mine and die a death worse than a dog's.

And so to look after him, he sold himself along with the boy and then, by the twists of fate, somehow ended up being bought by Alexander.

And even more miraculously he ended up being one of the servants on the ship Alexander was on.

Then one day, while out on a walk to stretch his muscles, Alexander heard the cries of a small child aboard the ship and thus met the deaf boy.

He still remembers the look of abject horror Takfiz had when he came to find his grandson climbing up his master's back, almost stumbling against the wooden door as he shivered and cowered.

And it took ALexnader an inordinate time to reassure the old man that he was just here to play with the boy.

In the later days, Alexander, feeling pity for the boy, decided to occasionally teach give some sign language to make his life a little less hellish.

And yes, it was hellish, like being trapped in a world where no one understands you and you understand no one, with your only mode of communication being to shout or cry.

Alexander in his university years had done some voluntary work and among them, for a year he had taught some physically challenged, not-so-well-off children.

And to more easily communicate with the kids, he had back then taught himself some basic sign languages from online courses.

The little bald boy quickly crossed the distance by the pitter patter of his small feet and then gave a full bow in front of Alexnader, something which Alexander found very cute.

"So, how are you?" Alexander gestured this saying using hand signals and got the reply,

"I'm fine, my lord," in the same abstract language.

The duo then spent a little time practicing and conversing and after Alexander taught the boy two new signs, excused him, which the boy did after a small bow.

"He is very smart. I hope you will continue to converse with him and help him grow," Alexander commented to Takfiz about his grandson, which drew a smile so big that seemed to threaten the old man's cheeks as he heavily nodded, almost tearing up.

He never imagined that his deaf and dumb grandson could grow to be so clever and he gave all the credit to his master Alexander.

'Praise be to lord master.' Takfiz praised

Yes, for the old man wearing a thick padded jacket, just his grandson being able to carry on the most basic communication was seen as a sign of genius.

And this was not too wrong of a mindset to have as the boy who was close to seven years old, previously had the communication ability of at best a one-year-old, an infant basically, while now it was more of in the range of three to four years.

Takfiz had become one of Alexander's earliest converts, changing his belief back when he was on the ship.

To this day Alexander did not from where the old man had heard of his religion, but suddenly one day the old man had come to Alexander and proclaimed himself to be a believer of Gaia.

And because of the old man's proactiveness in accepting Alexander's religion, and because Alexander could feel the zealous loyalty flowing out of him, he was made the leader of the slaves and given a better house, better clothes, better food, and better pay.

Alexander also took into consideration the fact that he had a grandson he very much loved and binding someone using the people they loved was a time-tested tradition that Alexander loved to follow.

Other than just pity, that was also why he paid so much attention to the boy.

And thus, for Takfiz, the word betrayal had been removed from his dictionary.

Done with the pleasantries, Alexander then gave his slave handler some instructions, "Takfiz, while coming here I saw the people stop work to bow to me. And while I greatly appreciate this gesture, you are to make them understand that they are not pausing work for anybody passing through the road. And I mean anybody- me, my wives, the guests, other lords…nobody." Alexander emphasized.

And then added, "And if anyone asked them why, then they are to say my name. Say that I ordered such. Understood?" Alexander pointedly ordered.

"Yes, my lord. I will see to it." The old man only had the option to nod and obey.

"Umm, now how are my fields?" Alexander then asked about the private farmlands surrounding his manor.

"Yes, sire." Takfiz stood up taut and gave an almost mechanical report, "As you ordered we have planted beetroots in the forty hectares of land after single tilting. And five hectares have been planted with dandelions. And the rest have been double tilted and felt to follow,".

The reason for the beetroots was very evident, making sugar.

But the dandelions also had a very component that can be produced from them, something Alexander planned to use in his panties to make them a bit more than just a triangular piece of cloth with strings.

"Where are all the slaves now?" Alexander asked next and Takfiz quickly answered, "Some are in the field as master saw, some are in the city working, and …a few are in the secret shops."

The old man subconsciously lowered his voice when he said the last part.