Herald of Steel

"Of course my lord, I will see it done at once!"

As soon as Alexander had finished making his ask, Vidiyan blurted out the answer with a large grin and an energetic nod, not even taking the time to properly process what the man had asked in the first place.

For him, it did not really matter what Alexander said, the pirate captain intended to say yes regardless of the difficulty.

This was why he next made the mistake of hastily adding, "I actually have an Iyizaridian man with me right now. He speaks excellent Azhak! Let me gift him to you, my lord."

Vidiyan had specifically bought the man from a slaver before coming here, to help with the local language when needed.

"....." Alexander from the other side first only slightly pursed his lips at the statement.

But figuring the man's tumultuous feelings, decided to be patient and not harangue him.

He simply reiterated his request. "No, I want a female slave or teacher. I do not want any man near Arrya."

"Ahhh… I see, I see, of course, of course my lord!" Finally, it was like a light bulb had gone off in Vidiyan's mind, as realizing what he was being actually asked of, the man immediately broke out into an even greater grin and a series of large nods.

"I will see it done. I will see it done. Within the next week. I will have my men deliver someone within the next week."

The pirate captain seemed to have a small quark of repeating his words when under pressure. And he promised to complete the task as soon as possible, likely in an attempt to make up for his previous foible.

"Good!" Alexander simply chimed to the promise with a gentle smile, then asked, "And what about her identity? How long will you need to find that?"

"...." This time, the pirate captain was clever enough to actually pay attention to what he was being asked. And by the end, produced a slightly difficult looking face.

"My lord… as I have already told you, it is very difficult for us pirates to go anywhere near that country. They hate us to the bone and use the most cruel of methods whenever we are caught. My crew really does not have any contact with any of the locals there. So… to go looking for an unknown lady… in such a huge land… I….. "

Vidiyan's face turned more and more bitter with each sentence until he greatly lowered his head in shame while trailing off.

"....." Alexander only subconsciously tapped the end of his table listening to it.

He did not doubt Vidiyan's answer, although a part of him still wanted to press the man, pointing out how he had sold so many Iyizardian slaves so surely he had to have some contact with that country.

However Alexander could also easily see how attacking and raiding small villages and hamlets along the shore and enslaving the poor people there was very, very different from having the intelligence network to find the identity of a noble lady with just a vague description.

'Hmm.. should I send an envoy to the ruler then? Carrying Arrya's portrait? Given how beautiful she is…I do not believe for a second that no one at the court does not know her. But what reason do I use to send such a delegation?'

'And where is the Iyizardian court anyway? How do I send my men there? Do they even have kings, or is it some other type of governance? Are they friendly? Do they even have relationships with other powers? Or will they hack off my men the moment they set foot in the palace?'

'Tsk, my knowledge is so bad. The only thing I really know about them is they are constantly attacking the Sybarians. If Arrya could speak, all this would have been so much easier.'

Such and many more voices surfaced in Alexander's mind, all trying to figure out what to do next.

Until….

'Ehhh, forget it. I do not have to waste men and money on a slave girl I just met. She can just live here until she decides otherwise.'

It should be noted that till now, Arrya had not really asked Alexander to set her free. In fact, after the first few days of living in great trepidation as she feared being taken against her will, the girl slowly started to become quite satisfied with her living arrangements.

Alexander had not asked her to his room after that first time, and as the man started to show less and less interest in her, the lady appeared to be more and more at home.

In that aspect, her life was quite similar to Princess Camelia's.

While on the other side of the pond, the pasha's initial zeal to contact Arrya's family also began to wane after some time, being supplanted by more thoughts of visiting the capital and how things would develop from there.

Dealing with an unknown group of people when he already had so much on his plate did not seem that important.

Hence Alexander was just about to call off the search when Vidiyan suddenly chimed,

"But my lord, if you can give me a portrait of the lady, I might be able to slip it into the hands of some of the local slavers. They can then take it to the capital and hopefully… draw the eye of a reputable noble or better the royal family."

"I know of a particularly popular chain of brothels in the capital owned by a powerful noble. If we can get the picture there…. if there is anyone who can recognize her, it should be the people visiting those places."

"....." Alexander's lips slightly twitched hearing this as he could not help but imagine the picture of the blonde bombshell with those curvy, regal hair, thick, cherry red lips, and those ocean blue mesmerizing eyes being plastered on the walls of a brothel, to be savored by hundreds, if not thousands of men.

Given Arrya's beauty, Alexander would not even be surprised to know these men would then go to on 'remember' her a few times during the day.

The young maiden certainly had the assets to tempt them as such.

But Alexander also understood where Vidiyan was coming from. Outside of the royal court, these high establishment pleasure houses were the ones to have the most concentration of noblemen.

And given Arrya's beauty, if anyone had any chance of remembering her, it would be these lecherous men.

It all made sound sense.

'*Sigh*, but if Arrya were to know this….'

However despite it being a good plan from the quick thinking pirate captain, Alexander's eyes quickly flickered with worry.

Even after having her for only a few months, he could easily guess how violently the girl would react once she learned how she was rescued.

Arrya always covered herself to the extreme, wearing fully sleeved clothes and a face vein even in the house, even in the sweltering heat of Zanzan's summer, when his other women would wear ultra thin linen gowns, and sometimes even wanted to take that off and move about in their bikinis.

The heatwaves here were no joke.

Yet Arrya endured through it all without question, not even taking the veil when eating. Rather she skillfully navigated the spoon and fork full of food through the slight opening along its side. It was almost fascinating to see… how the lady was able to navigate the treacherous path without letting even a morsel of food touch her veil.

And in the same way, every time Alexander wanted to see her face, it was a great tug of war, with the girl only relenting at the end because she had no choice- she was his captive after all.

Thus to go from such bashfulness to having her face shown in such a way to so many unknown men….

'I fear the girl might do something very drastic. Or worse, her family might.'

Reaching this reasonable conclusion, Alexander hence turned to Vidiyan and swiftly shook his head,

"I do not think that is a good idea. Given how Iyizardian women like to cover themselves, to show their faces open in such a place… even if Arrya accepts, I fear her family might disown her out of shame."

"....." Given that Alexander had spoken his objection, Vidiyan also quickly nodded to accept it, "My lord is indeed wise. I did not stop to think like that."

Then simply turned around to give him an expectant, as if silently waiting for Alexander to dictate his next command.

And facing this eager gaze, Alexander also began to hesitate in calling off the search just like that.

It was clear to see that the pirate captain was very willing to obey him, to prove himself. So Alexander thought it would be a great waste to waste the man's eagerness.

The young Pasha's ego also played a role here, as he also wanted to show the pirate captain he was competent- that he could come up with a solution when no other could not.

Tap, tap, tap,

Hence with a subconscious tab of the table, Alexander got the gears in his head going and fortunately, by combining many of the ideas, managed to get an answer in time.

Let us say no to piracy! Don't take part in a crime! Don't patronize thieves!

Please come Here!

=>Link to the original /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705