Herald of Steel

Mithriditus did not simply agree to Philips on a whim.

But had decided to do so after considering several factors.

The first was of course Theony's family, which was a prominent family with close ties to even the queen.

And so losing their heir in such a needless way was sure to sour relations between the king and them.

Secondly, it was the crown prince's feelings.

The old noble had no proof but suspected the two had a closer relationship than just being friends.

And Mithriditus felt if he agreed he could curry some favor with his future sovereign.

And lastly, he was impressed by how Philips was able to get so much information even when he was ill and confined to his tent for the last two months.

'They say the crown prince is even sharper than his father, There is certainly some water to this,' Mithriditus felt Philips was a smart man to follow.

And it was due to all these that he agreed to, nodding,

"Okay, Your Highness. I will try to stall His Majesty for a few days"

But then also added with an asterisk,

"But if we are going to do this, it should be done fast. As soon as possible in fact. For my abilities are limited."

Mithriditus could not say for sure when Perseus might turn on him for disobeying his order, hence the urgency.

And this was all Philips wanted and so gratefully nodded. "Mmmm, let's send an envoy tomorrow. And hope they will be willing to do the exchange."

'Or can!' At this Mithriditus silently muttered this in his heart, knowing it was very much possible Theony was not captured but was outright killed in the heat of battle.

If that happened… well, he could only express his condolences for that prisoner.

While back in Zanzan, the city had entered into a kind of festive mood, as Alexander's return worked to temporarily calm the frayed nerves of the people.

The populace felt that with him around, things would go back to normal, while the council members were reassured at the set hierarchy returning.

Thus, within hours of his return, the city began to rapidly stabilize.

While the man himself, first took a nice bath and a good meal at the eastern barracks as his wife had burnt the house to a crisp, and then, though he wanted to very much take a nap after the long ride or spend some time with his girls, instead decided to immediately convene with all the council members.

Because he was very much eager to know the status of his city from them.

So they sat in one of the war council rooms as each man and woman recalled his or her events in great detail, speaking freely of their experience.

And it was from this recollection that Alexander only now came to know about Heliptos's fiasco with the supply lines, how the elephants suddenly broke their lines, the state of the siege, the sudden attack on the manor, all the decisions Cambyses made that night and finally the resulting aftermath of this all.

"......and that's how we drove the Tibians out. We planned to attack the main camp today and completely eliminate them, but then you arrived," Cambyses finished the retelling, being the last in turn.

While Alexander, after finishing hearing everything, first subconsciously turned his head to look out the window, and noticed the beautiful clear sky painted with the dim orange hue of the setting sun.

The meeting had started at around midday and lasted so long that it seems he did not even notice when dusk had crept in.

And as he gazed at the scenic, disappearing, winter sky, trying to gather his thoughts, coincidentally he felt his mood very much matched the current sky.

The sky was not overcast and gloomy like the night just as his mood was not so bad for he had managed to keep his city and almost everyone he cared about alive.

But just like how the sky was also not bright and radiant like the blazing sun, so was his mood, for the damages inflicted on him were indeed substantial.

Thus Alexander's felt his mood to be a grayish murky kind instead, one mixed with both sweet and bitterness, just like how the current dusky sky was occupied both by the day and night, the orange hues conveying hope, but their dimness conveying damage and disappointment.

"......"

And as Alexander descended into this poignant contemplation, his silence made even the huge room feel very small and stifling for the people gathered there.

They all felt Alexander was simmering with rage like a volcano storing magma underneath just to explode out all at once.

While Alexander inside his mind was nitpicking all the decisions they had made in his mind, and saying to himself,

'Jesus Christ! They managed to fuck up so much in just three months! What would have happened if I was gone six months?'

With the advantage of hindsight, Alexander was not at all satisfied by some of the decisions his side made, even feeling that though the Tibian king was a great strategist, much credit for his success also had to go to the blunders of the opposite side.

Thus it took a while for Alexander to finally gather his thoughts,

"*Sigh*, not building a wall on the western side was indeed an oversight of mine. I never thought any enemy would be able to make it up through the dense forest."

"I was wrong about that. I must apologize." Alexander first and foremost began as such, as the others quickly jumped in to also say,

"No, no, we also all never thought it was possible, my lord."

"Mmmm," And hearing so Alexander emotionlessly hummed and then started to inquire about some of the doubts he had.

"But then how did the enemy know to attack via the Cisran Hill?" He first questioned and seeing the surprised faces quickly explained,

"After all, this was not the first time Tibias had attacked Adhania, or besieged Zanzan. All these have precedents.

"So the question then becomes if they had never done so then, why it changed this time?

"...."

And as Alexander pointed this out, for a few seconds, everyone simply looked at each other in askance, because it seemed no one had thought of it.

Except for one - Grahtos.

The man was one of the people in charge of the interrogations and after seeing no one else step up, the cavalry commander at last chimed in, at first hesitating a bit, but then fully revealing his findings,

"That…. I had the same questions, so asked some of the prisoners about it. But most of these were lower level grunts who had no insights into their commanders' thoughts."

"Until I found a high-ranking officer named Theony."

"That man was caught wearing the king's armor to deceive us while the real one escaped, so I was certain he knew something about this."

"But when I asked him about it, first he avoided the question."

"So I pressed him a bit."

Here Grahtos paused a bit and sounded quite pleased with himself, almost producing a smug smile before continuing,

"And it was then he betrayed that on one fateful night, their king, by some blind luck had noticed light filtering out from the western part of the city even through the thick overgrowth.

"And seeing this presumably gave the king an idea. He first recalled that that side had no walls, and thus whether he could attack via that."

"Then, with that thought in mind, the king apparently had decided to send scouts to try and plot out an initial route using the lights as guides."

"While back here, his siege was going nowhere."

"So in desperation, he decided to try his luck via that route, using the lights atop the hill to not get lost in the foliage."

"And with yesterday being an especially clear night, his gamble almost worked."

"We were only alerted to this sneak attack because they had set alight the iron refinery thinking they had reached the top."

"Or else…"

Grahtos shivered as he finished his exciting report.

And this spine-tingling sensation was subsequently shared by almost all, even Alexander.

He did not even want to think about the other 'if' scenario.

And at the same time, he was completely convinced by this answer, finding it very plausible.

After all, no one had also thought crossing the Alps with war elephants was possible, but Hannibal had done it.

Or that conquering Tyre was possible, but Alexander the Great had done it.

There were scores of examples in history of genius commanders coming up with innovative and sometimes even completely bonkers ways to overcome challenges.

Thus Alexander did not expect any kind of foul play, letting Theony pull a masterstroke in managing to keep their secret correspondence hidden through a mixture of truths and lies.

As for Alexander, this time his focus was attracted by something else completely, "It seems building the iron plant had this unexpected result. I never could have even guessed."

"This attack really opened my eyes to just how vulnerable the whole western part is. Thank Gaia it did not succeed."

Alexander involuntarily let a sigh of relief, before loudly resolving, "We will need to fix this," which got unanimous nods from the council members.

It seemed that instead of scolding his council members for the current situation, for the time being, Alexander had decided to focus on improving his defense, and had even stated making a few new projects in his head.