A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

On this day, as the person who temporarily took charge of the royal city on behalf of King Camos, Heimos listened absently in the side hall to a group of old and young ministers arguing for a whole day.

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

The setting sun on the horizon is like fire, igniting the billowing fire clouds in the sky.

Looking at the red clouds like flames, Heimos felt his chest tightening inexplicably, and the dream that night was dyed red by the flames suddenly appeared in his mind.

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

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

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

It was a chirp that Heymos was very familiar with.

Heimos looked up sharply.

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

The black eagle with messy feathers lay in his arms, motionless and exhausted. Even the dark feathers were messy and lost their luster.

Braving the wind and rain, it rushed back day and night without eating or drinking. After reaching this point, it could no longer hold on and fell down.

At this moment, its breath was a little weak.

Anu?

How could Anu, who was supposed to be following Garlan in Tozes City now, suddenly fly back? !

He handed Anu to the attendants and asked them to take him to the veterinarian immediately. He quickly opened the copper tube that Anu had brought back.

The next moment, Heimos's pupils shrank violently.

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

Heimos clenched the cloth so tightly that it even shook under the terrible weight.

The dark sky...

Burning red flames...

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

…

Heimos took a deep breath and suppressed the crazy heartbeat that almost drove him crazy.

He gritted his teeth and gave the order to his attendants.

"Send the message immediately and ask all the ministers and people from the Military Affairs Office to rush to the palace within half an hour!"

…………

……………………

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

Because the wooden cart that distributes food is here, all the slaves have gathered here. They raised their heads and saw a young man, surrounded by people, ascending to the high platform.

The sky was not completely dark yet, 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 Lord Seth, who was the captain, actually bowed their heads respectfully and followed the young man. Although they didn't know who the young man was yet, they began to feel scared.

The slaves whispered to each other, looked at the blond boy on the high platform, and asked each other who it was. For a while, the scene was chaotic, and there were buzzing sounds everywhere.

The city guards who were maintaining order around them all frowned and shouted harshly.

"A bunch of rude guys! Kneel down and salute immediately!"

They scolded the slaves who were whispering and eyeing the boy.

"Everyone kneel down and lower their heads——"

"Do you know who you offended?"

"This is His Royal Highness Prince Aaron Landis!"

prince? !

The slaves suddenly panicked and hurriedly leaned over. Most of them were so frightened that almost their entire upper body fell to their knees on the ground.

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

The most noble person these slaves have ever seen in their lives is probably the consul of Tozes.

In their opinion, the consul was already too high to reach, 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 was the legendary descendant of the gods Aaron Landis.

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

If you offend him, you will offend the gods and Shamash, and your soul will go to hell and suffer torture after death——

Thinking of this, some timid slaves even trembled.

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

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

The whole place was eerily silent for a moment.

Garlan stood on the high platform, and his subordinates such as Seth and Keyhos had lowered their heads and retreated a few steps behind him.

He looked down at the black slaves lying on the ground below. Seeing that their bodies were stiff and some were even trembling, he couldn't help but raise his hand and scratch his head.

Am I so terrible?

He was a little confused.

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

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

But after he asked, the entire venue became even quieter.

The slaves who were kneeling with their heads bowed were confused for a moment.

Not only them, but Seth and the city guards around him who were standing solemnly waiting for the prince to lecture also looked confused.

Only the blond knight turned his head, couldn't hold back a puff, then quickly raised his hand to cover his mouth, and pretended to cough lightly.

Everyone suspected that they were hallucinating.

However, the boy who made them think 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 phrase 'Are you full?' echoed and reverberated in the empty sky above the entire woodyard.

Everyone: "…………"

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

After a long time, a thin boy who was still very young and seemed to be underage secretly raised his head and glanced at Gallan on the stage. Thinking of the bowl of fragrant rice porridge just now, he swallowed. Finally, hunger defeated fear. His heart skipped a beat and he answered Garlan's words.

"Your Highness, I haven't..." He gritted his teeth and said, "I haven't had enough to eat!"

When I was half a kid, I was the most able to eat. A bowl of rice porridge and a piece of cake could only fill my stomach.

Now that he had spoken, he would risk it.

"That... great, noble, kind prince..."

He clumsily flattered Garlan and carefully looked at Garlan's face.

"Can you give us some more food? We'd be grateful."

Seeing the thin 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 was stunned for a moment.

The prince smiles so beautifully.

He thought to himself.

He was still feeling uneasy at first, but looking at that smile, he felt inexplicably calmed down.

Anyone who can smile so beautifully must be a very good person.

He thought so.

Seeing Garlan and the young slave finish talking with a smile, it was not scary, and he promised to give them more food, the other slaves felt happy, and all of them suddenly became less nervous.

Judging from the prince's tone, he had something to say to them.

Many slaves pondered this in their minds.

Slaves with low status like them are looked down upon by even common people. What would the noble prince say to them?

"Do you want to escape from slavery?"

Garlan's next words made many slaves who had just relaxed feel tense again, their heads lowered and pressed tightly to 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 a slave with a low status."

The prince's words made all the slaves become more and more trembling, and their breathing became rapid.

"But you can't escape." Garlan said, "Not only you, but also me, and everyone else in Tozes City, no one can escape."

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

Won't.

All slaves knew the cruelty of those pirates.

"When Tozes fell, no matter who he was or what his identity was, he could not escape the fate of being killed."

"This is a crisis, but at the same time, it is an opportunity for you as slaves."

The young man on the high platform said, looking down at everyone with his golden eyes.

"Right now, we don't have enough troops to defend the city. We need manpower."

The slave's heart tightened.

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

The fear of battlefield and death began to grow in their hearts.

"I know that asking you to go to the battlefield to fight the pirates will cost you your lives, and you will not be willing to do so."

Gallan said,

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

The nervous slaves suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

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

The boy took a deep breath and raised his voice.

"If any slave kills a pirate, I will abolish his status as a slave and make him a free citizen."

The moment Garlan finished speaking, there was silence in the Kiba.

It's like time has stopped at this moment.

Then, there was a bang, like a violently erupting volcano, and the entire wood farm exploded.

Once you are a slave, you are a slave for life.

Not only himself, but his children, grandchildren, and descendants are slaves to the flesh of mermaids for generations.

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

There may be a few slaves who are lucky enough to have outstanding physical strength and have been deposed as slaves under the eyes of their masters. But such slaves are rare, and only a few have been produced in thousands of years.

Slaves are born into sin because they are born into sin.

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.

At first, when the other slaves' moods were ups and downs following Gallan's words, they all just knelt on the ground with their heads lowered, motionless, and their expressions did not change much.

Most of these people are well-known among slaves and have summoning power.

At this moment, they could not suppress the look of shock on their faces. They suddenly raised their heads and looked at the prince above them with disbelief.

Their eyes were in disbelief, but there was also a hint of deep longing in them.

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

They long to escape this lowly status.

Garlan continued talking.

"If you can kill more pirates, you can use this merit to exchange for your relatives and friends to become free people. You can also use it to exchange for food and money. As long as you have enough merit, you can even use it to exchange for Tozes. Houses and land.”

The buzz in the wooden field became louder now.

Among the slaves whispering to each other, there was a strong, dark-skinned slave in his prime who looked up at the prince above.

He looks extremely honest and honest.

Before that, no matter what Garlan said, he just lowered his eyes and remained silent. His eyes were as calm as a pool of stagnant water, with no 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 clenched tightly, and veins popped out on the back of his hands.

"His Royal Highness Prince!"

he suddenly shouted loudly.

His voice was unusually loud and deafening.

"As long as you kill the pirates, you can abolish the status of slaves. Do you mean what you say?"

The words of this mature slave shocked several city guards around him, and they all shouted angrily.

"Insolent fellow!"

"How dare you question His Royal Highness——"

"Bastard thing!"

Some city guards even turned their heads with angry faces and said directly to Garlan.

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

The slave said nothing and stared directly at Garlan.

This man has always been a man of weight and appeal among the slaves. His shout immediately silenced the buzzing Kiba.

Tens of thousands of eyes were all cast on the high platform in front of them at this moment.

They waited quietly, uneasily, and with irrepressible hope for the prince's answer.

On this land of silence, Garlan stretched out his hand.

He stretched his right hand flat in front of himself.

"At this moment, the words I speak will be witnessed by Shamash under his gaze."

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

The fiery red rays of the setting sun fell on him, like a golden-red flame covering his body.

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

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

"Any slave who has not violated Aaron Landis's national law, as long as he performs meritorious service in the battle to defend the city, I will pardon his status as a slave!"

He said,

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

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

The slave in his prime took a deep breath.

Then he leaned in again.

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

This time, he came from the bottom of his heart and bowed his head to the young prince.

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

…………

[The Oath of Tozes].

This is what history calls this event.

It was Aaron Landis's first large-scale slave emancipation.

It was also the starting point for slavery to be shaken.

Historical records indicate that in the history of Aaron Landis, the young king known as the ‘Wise King’ freed countless slaves of Aaron Landis during his reign.

Although he failed to completely abolish slavery, his actions shook the cornerstone of slavery, which was the mainstream at the time, and accelerated the demise of slavery.

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