Herald of Steel

Just like the noblemen were glinting and salivating at the prized male slaves, a few, very small number of noble ladies also giggled at them in private,

"Too bad the pasha did not choose to make these slaves walk naked. I would have loved seeing what their packages looked it… all flopping around."

"Hehehe, yes that would have quite the sight. Ahhh! I wonder you good they taste? The ones at home are getting so boring."

"Hehehe, my lady… you are insatiable…"

In the triumph, succeeding the male slaves, came a group of female slaves, and they were surprisingly dressed better than the men.

Garbed in colorful long tunics and skirts of red and gold, these women were fashionably dressed, with decent makeup and braided hair fashioned with green laurels, letting their natural beauty speak for themselves.

Originally, some of the organizers had suggested to Alexander to let the women saunter like the men, their upper torso fully visible, to let the public better appreciate the goods.

But the Pasha thought better of it.

Other than it being too dehumanizing, Alexander was also of the opinion that letting the women show everything would make them less attractive to the men because then they would have nothing more to offer.

Thus, in much contrast to how the slave traders sold their wares, he had the women dressed beautifully, in dresses and styles that accentuated their natural beauty.

And the crowd's reaction said it all.

Many drew lecherous gazes at these beauties and blew cat fishing whistles, as well as drawing rueful sighs that they were not shown naked.

And the slight pain derived from seeing these chosen women in their current state proved to be a far more lingering memory than if they had simply seen them naked with naked breasts and hips swaying in the wind.

The crowd however did not need to feel too much regret over the missed scenery, as Alexander decided to more than make it up to them with his next attraction.

An attraction that made the crowd be stunned the moment it entered their field of view, for in this part of the procession, there came the magnificent elephants!

Alexander had them embellished in their full war regalia, with red and gold painted leather armor, a large tent atop their back carrying their mahoots, and even dulled swords tied to their tusk to produce the fully authentic feel.

And the moment these beasts made their appearece, they instantly became the star of the show, even more than the fake dragon.

Because these beasts were still alive and walking.

The people of Zanzan certainly had never seen such beasts before and so as these enormous beasts slowly made their way through the wide roads, their occasional roars caused many to shudder, and others to delight.

There were gasps of praise, disbelief and even horror as the crowd cheered,

"Magnficient! To think such a weird animal existed!"

"Yes! The world is truly wide and weird! One wonders how any animal can be so big!"

"Or how the army captured and tamed them! Glorious!"

"Look! Look at those ears! The way they are flapping. Looks almost like a boat's sails. I felt the draft even from here."

"What's that long windy thing hanging in the front! A hand?"

"Hmmm… who knows? But can a hand shout like that? Surely it has to be a mouth."

"Bah! It already has a mouth, can't you see."

"Hmmm…. then perhaps it has two mouths. Who can say?"

"Those huge white things sticking out of their mouth. What are those? Surely they cannot be teeth. That's too big!"

"And are those swords tied to them? What a terrifying foe!"

"Yes! I can feel the ground shake every time they step."

"Oh! By the gods! I fear these behemoths would be able to smash through even city walls with no problem."

"To think our army really fought these beasts and won! Heroes! Each and every one of them!"

Many people in the crowd were swift to connect these beasts with the portraits of the legionnaires fighting them as shown previously.

And realizing with their very own eyes that those stories were not exaggerated, the surrounding crowd cheered in pride and elation.

Even many of the nobles present were impressed, particularly the ladies, with many of them gossiping,

"So that's what an elephant looks like? I once heard about them from some passing foreign merchants. But never thought they would be so big!"

"Yes. I heard about them too. I believe that ivory is made from these huge teeth. I have some showpieces made of them."

"Oh? So that's where ivory comes from? I had no idea. No wonder they are so luxurious."

"Right! There was once a merchant trying to sell me an ivory piece for an inordinate price, telling me that he had to fight a massive, terrifying beast to get it. Looks like he was telling the truth! *Sigh*, too bad I did not believe him then."

"Oh? What happened then?"

"Haha, I might have had him executed on bogus charges and simply taken it… but I can't exactly remember.. hehe."

"Ahhh! That does sound like my lady."

"Mmmm. So these beasts seem to be a great treasure. I wonder where I can get them?"

"Oh is my lady interested in raising them? Yes. They would be quite the prize to show off in parties, no doubt."

"I suspect the soundness of it! We do not even know what they eat."

"Surely other beasts, right? How else could they become so large."

"Hehehe, I'm more interested to know how they taste? Do you like the pasha like slaughter one for us?"

"Ohhh, that's fantastic my lord! Your ideas are so wonderful. Maybe we can ask Lady Cambyses!"

"Forget it. I doubt the pasha will let us even get close to them! Much less slaughter one for us."

"Well, you can never know if you do not even try, hehehe."

It was amidst such cheers and gossip that the long procession of elephants finally ended, taking quite a bit of time, and even when they disappeared towards the center of the city, the crowd was still left with a lingering sense of awe.

Followed by the elephants, came another group of carts, this time hositing paintings of the nobles of Tibias surrending to Alexander.

The portraits showed them kneeling in front of an armored man sitting on a thorne, inside what appeared to be the royal court.

And to lay validity to these claims, the Tibian royal family was made to join the parade behind these carts, dressed in their finest attire, along with ceremonial chains binding their hands and feet symbolizing their loss.

It was without a doubt extremely humiliating for them.

But Alexander had demanded them of this without any chance of rejection, approaching them with the condition,

"I will spare Philips and Perseus the ignominy given their status and ill health. This will alsospare staining their reputation among the Tibian nobles. And I will also allow Princess Amelia to avoid this due to concern about her new identity."

"But the people of Zanzan must see the royal family humbled. They demand it!"

"So Perikles will be made to don Perseus's armor, appearing to the crowd as the king of Tibias.

And Lady Parthia his consort, the queen of Tibias. While Princess Camelia will be the last princess of the defeated family."

As soon as Alexander's uttered this, it received immediate backlash from all three of them, with Perikles refusing to impersonate his father, Lady Parthia being shocked and appalled at being told to act as her son's wife, and Princess Camelia looking at Alexander venomously and saying as his consort, such a thing would be also humiliating to him.

Towards the first two objections however, Alexander simply threatened, "If you refuse, then I will simply have Perseus dressed up and paraded under the gruling sun in a stretcher."

While towards Princess Camelia's warning of humiliation, Alexander sniggered, "Then isn't that what you exactly wanted? To embarrass me infornt of the crowd? Well, here is your chance."

Needless to say, Alexander's 'persuasion' soon worked to make all three of them comply.

Hence Perikles found himself dressed in a specially made ceremonial blood red armor with intricate silver etchings around the breastplate and arms, along with many golden ribbons strapped around various parts of the body, giving him a very regal look.

He wore no helmet, so as to let the crowd see his face in its full glory.

Only a golden circle adorned his head, with a large, red plumb of feather attached, almost personifying the idiom- a feather in one's hat.

Because to Alexander, the success of the campaign was indeed a feather in one's hat.

And Perikles, who was representing his father Perseus, was the grand prize.

This youngest prince also wore fake iron chains on his arms and legs, painted gold for a better visual effect and a vivid represatniation of his capture.

And alongside to his right walked his mother, dressed in that golden gown, similarly sporting the chains.

While Princess Amelia accompanied her brother to his left, today missing the headshcade, thus letting the crowd watch her cut locks with shocked gaps.

And once the crowd got to know who it was parading in front of them, the trio proved to be almost as much a hit as the elephants

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