Conquest

Calve Hill smiled. When he smiled, his eyes would emit a sense of warmth, “Your Majesty, could you believe that Ruhr’s skills are not limited only to escape.”

When the palace gate was opened, a few servants who wore grey linen robes bowed respectfully and stood on both sides. Calve Hill slowly walked out from the gate and stood on the thirtieth staircase quietly for a quarter of an hour.

The old sage looked upon the sky. The dark clouds gathered. There were raindrops slowly falling down. The gloomy weather seemed to be filled with a taste of death...

“Finally, he has made his choice today...”

Calve Hill’s face no longer had that peaceful look when he faced the old emperor. His eyes shone faintly, “Could it... be too late for now. Hum!”

In the sparse rain, Calve Hill slowly stepped down from the stairs. A tall and lean person immediately brought a large black-clothed umbrella to shelter Calve Hill from the rain.

Calve Hill slowly moved forward. The person who held the umbrella for him silently followed. Despite the rain hitting her own body, she seemed to be unaware of it.

The girl who was holding an umbrella and walked with a stagerred pace, her legs seemed to have a disability, and half of her face was covering with an Iron Mask. The other half of her face showed an extreme indifferent expression with a flirtatious purple pupil that quietly watched at the back of Calves Hill.

The woman was Sylvia.

There was a carriage parked in front of the palace. The driver opened the door and then Calve Hill went into the carriage. He turned back as if he had just noticed Sylvia.

The rain was getting heavier. Calve Hill was sitting in the car while Sylvia was standing in the rain. She looked at Calve Hill with her purple eyes for a moment. Her purple hair and her shoulder-cloth were wet in the rainfall. Finally, Calve Hill sighed.

“You are back?”

“I am back.”

“Is everything over?”

“It has ended. I have paid... for what I owe.”

Calve Hill nodded, “How is that guy?”

Sylvia opened her mouth and said coldly, “He is still weak.”

Calve Hill seemed to be very satisfied with the answer, “Tomorrow you go to Odin, the thing that I want must be done.”

Then, Calve Hill seemed to have lost interest in talking. He closed the carriage door. The horse-drawn carriage was slowly driven away.

Calve Hill finally sighed, his face eventually revealing the exhausted demeanor of an aged man.

He drew a soft, dry blanket under the seat to cover his knees and then leaned wearily at his seat.

The sage sighed.

“Ah... why is it so difficult to find a good dictator? Kontos...” “I thought he was the best candidate, but... but...” Calve Hill shook his head and quietly whispered.

“Unfortunately, he is not!”

“Hey, fat man. So, now your Byzantine military is divided into two factions?” Shaar was riding on his horse, shouting exaggeratedly.

A line of cavalry slowly went forward on a wide road towards the inner land of the empire.

With a slight frustration, Ruhr looked at the uncultivated Shaar. Fortunately, the guards alongside were his own cronies. He was not afraid of his words getting spread out. He snappily raged, “Do not always mention this, all of you! Do not forget that you are also an officer of the Byzantine Empire! “

Shaar Smiled, “I would not argue with you on this. Tell me, General Adrick is belongs to which faction?”

Shaar rubbed his chin and then thought for a moment, “Ah, you said that those aristocratic generals and warlords were the worms of the country. General Adrick will not associate people of such characters. He will be naturally a decent soldier.” Then Shaar gazed at Ruhr, “As for you...You were probably sent by those worms.”

Ruhr was irate and almost wanted to kick the uncultivated Shaar to death.

Then he patiently said: “Do not talk nonsense, I am a genuine soldier of the military! Hum!”

Those worms could not be considered as soldiers anymore. The army positions would be inherited by some aristocratic family, just as some military governorship would be passed to the son and then to the grandson. They could no longer be regarded as soldiers! As for this faction, his Majesty had founded the Imperial Institution of the Army thirty years ago to bypass the pollution that had been completely caused by the warlords. It was a fresh start for the imperial institution to train brand new soldiers. The officers from the Imperial Institution were generally known as “The Eagles”. Because the military institution was alike of the military, the students were usually selected from the lower-class or middle-class aristocratic family, occasionally admitting some exceptions by taking in some ordinary but talented civilians.

“This operation of three decades has enriched the number of the standing imperial regiments with a number of graduating batch that will finally form part of the military now. They are known as “The Eagles” who are barely able to compete with those warlords! Hum! Some students from the noble could be promoted easier and some students with the background of an ordinary citizen would have a slow promotion. Those worms who fear of the officers that graduated from the institution would always suppress their development. Some guys would be still in position as the junior officers even after a twenty years of service. It would be extremely rare for someone like Adrick or me to be able to lead an independent legion.”

Ruhr paused and then smiled proudly, “The Duke Minas is the first president of the military academy. The Duke has had high prestige amongst the military throughout his career, some of the worms have served as his men previously. They would surely give a bit of face to the old man while the loyalty of the Duke to the royal family also makes him the best choice as the new faction leader. Those officers who graduated from the military academy could be regarded as the disciples of the old Duke. I am a special case to have served as the chef of the Duke for six years. The old Duke sees my talent and then put me into the military academy for education. I have also studied for six years in the academy. So, I have served under the Duke for a total of twelve years! Hum, no one else could have such opportunity as I. “

Shaar had no interest on the self-boasting of Ruhr but he was concerned about Adrick, “So as you say, the general would be considered as a senior level officer in our fraction?”

Ruhr’s face was quirky and he shook his head, “Things are not so simple... Frustratingly, the guys who were trained from the military academy mostly have very old-fashioned mindset. There are too little people that are as smart and flexible like I am. Some men are loyal to the royal family while some of them only trust on their own beliefs that the military needs only to defend the country and should not be confined to a particular faction or force...Adrick is obviously a part of “The Eagles” but probably became stupid by the traditional teachings and actually got very close to the Senate. I heard that they were interested in making him a member of lower house of the Senate. “

“What is the Senate?” Shaar was curious.

“What is the Senate...? Uh...” Ruhr tried to explain and the uncultured Shaar was listening with big eyes but hold any understanding of the concepts. After a while, the uncultured Shaar laughed suddenly with a joyous impression leaving the fat man a bit confused

“What are you laughing at, kid?”

Shaar disdained, “I laugh at you guys for causing a mess in Byzantine. This is such a good country, but the way you guys do things is simply a waste of time and energy.”

“...” The fatty stared with big eyes.

“Why not?” Shaar sneered: “The emperor seems to be the greatest of them all and could give any commands, and the military would be silent most of the time as respect to the emperor. But if the military decides anything, it would be carried out in any circumstance. As for the senate, there are a large number of people who are whining about this and that all day, but they can’t seem to achieve anything. “

The fatty sneered, “I do not understand what is so funny about this?”

Shaar shook his head: “Of course this is funny. In fact, the simplest idea is to get a single voice, and that voice has an absolute authority and command. Once the command is handed down once, no matter what, all must agree and obey! It is tiring to have so much commands from so many sides!”

The fat man pondered at the sound that came out from his mouth. The voice which had an absolute command and a command that when passed, all much obey to...

His facial expression changed as he whispered, “It is an absolute dictatorship. Although the Byzantine Empire is a monarchy authoritarian, the spirit of the country establishments would reject the founding of an dictatorial regime.”

Shaar hummed with a smile thoughtfully, “I’d think that this country would be greater with the application of dictatorship...”