Herald of Steel

Cantagena hired twenty thousand mercenaries, knowing they themselves could never pay them if they lost.

Why?

Because the Cantagenan senate never even considered losing.

The drought, Tibias's scheme, and an internal royal coup had set up such a perfect storm that the entire senate believed that Adhania would fall no matter what.

The rewards were so attractive and the risks so low that they had to bite.

So although their coffers were empty and they were in no state to finance a war, they decided to do it anyway.

They determined that everything would go according to plan and that this little trick would leave none the wiser.

To ensure their success, they even appointed their best general, Agapios, and their most prominent rising military star- Samaras in command.

But, unfortunately, plans tend to not always go as planned.

And this was one of those 'sometimes'.

Which brings up the elephant in the room, why did Cantagena- supposedly the richest city-state of Thesos have no money?

Because it lost the "War of Flowers" sixteen years ago.

After its defeat and the subsequent loss of its hegemonic status of Thesos, the once economic powerhouse began to rapidly lose its markets due to a variety of reasons, some internal, and many external.

But although its income began to nosedive, it never reduced its expenditure.

As a matter of fact, its spending actually increased because of things like bereavement and support payments for soldiers killed in battle, disability stipend for soldiers suffering an injury in battle, building a new army, repairing and building new fortifications to withstand future attacks, helping allies prop up their economies and a whole host of other things.

Even more, to lock down the Exolas army and prevent it from coming to Adhania's rescue, Cantagena dug from the bowels of its coffers whatever it had left and raised a second army, and attacked Exolas at immense cost to itself.

As such, the fact of the matter was Cantagena was dead-ass broke.

No way were they ever going to be able to afford the kind of expenses twenty thousand elite mercenaries demanded.

So, they did not really bother to argue with the mercenaries over their asking price, letting them charge whatever their hearts desired.

And then they instructed Agapios to make Adhania and Ptolomy pay for it or have the mercenaries sack its capital- Adhan.

Although Cantagena had played such underhanded cards behind their backs, but unfortunately, the poor mercenary leaders were completely unaware of this, of the true extent of Cantagena's economic woes.

So they began to bicker with Menicus over his 'wild conjectures, some greatly doubting his credibility, though not necessarily because he was wrong but because they were unwilling to accept his claim.

"What makes you say that?" Petricuno, one of the ones doubting Menicus raised his voice in frustration.

He didn't like what the old man was saying and really hoped Menicus had finally gone senile.

But still, the ability Menicus displayed until now had earned him his respect and he felt that he at least ought to give the old man a chance to explain himself.

"The reason why I asked for a partial payment was because I wanted to check the status of Samaras's treasury. But he refused to spare even a single coin. He must have given everything he had to buy Damious, that's why his group is so quiet." Menicus reasoned.

This shrewd old man was once again correct, he was three for three by now.

All the leaders hearing the explanation frowned hard, each trying to find the best possible explanation for this without considering the worst.

The most likely alternative they could think of was Samaras stealing the money.

But a bit closer look revealed this was unlikely.

Because even if he did steal it, if he could not win the war, it was unlikely he would live long enough to spend it.

Even if he only wanted to escape Adhania, he would most likely need their help.

The other less probable scenarios ranged from Damious holding Samaras hostage to Samaras being a traitor to him being simply an idiot.

But at last, all the leaders in their heads agreed that Samaras running out of money was the most plausible explanation.

Because if they were in his position and had the money, even if only some money, they would have gone with Menicus's suggestion and used some of it to appease and motivate the exhausted and dejected soldiers.

They all thought, "Samaras's staunch refusal was quite telling and Damious's enthusiastic support probably means that he has swallowed the last of Samaras's coin."

"Hmm, I believe you are right. Samaras's recent actions do indicate that." After some time of silence, Petricuno was the first to admit his belief towards Menicus's statements.

"But if what he said is true then what? What do we do now? Surrender?" Regias asked full of anxiety.

"I will again repeat what I said, 'I don't know and that's upto you to decide individually', Menicus spoke up looking at the crowd.

"But surrendering is impossible. Don't forget what we did at Acme and it is well-known what Adhania does to enemies like us. Death is a hundredfold better option." He gravely warned.

He then finished at last by saying, "I have decided that my group won't fight in the upcoming battle no matter the coin. This was a bad investment and I am going to take the loss. All of you make sure to take your decisions wisely. Your and your soldiers' lives depend on it." Saying that, the old man slowly walked away from the group and towards his camp.

The leaders silently observed the old man leave and then briefly looked at each soon to see if anyone else had anything to say.

But seeing no one speak up, they too chose to disperse in silence.

As they made their way to the camp, each group leader was doing a myriad of calculations inside their head.

Some felt Menicus was exaggerating and decided to take part in the battle anyway, willing to roll the dice to win big or go home.

Some, like Petricuno chose to believe Menicus and decided like him to not deploy and chalk this up as a loss.

Some believed Menicus, but their financial situation did not allow them to take such a huge loss.

So they decided to take part in the attack, in the hopes that it will somehow miraculously recuperate their loss.

Thus, this was turned into something akin to a game of poker where one's back was pinned to the wall and they had to choose- cut their losses and quit or double down and go all in.

And all the mercenary leaders now had to decide which option to pick.

Decisions! Decisions!