Chapter 352

Chapter 352 \nAlthough the hot spring is a bit crowded, it doesn’t make them feel suffocated. Besides the thick and tall stone walls around, the hot spring has no roof, which is beneficial for the circulation of the air. Some even like to take a bath when it rains.\nLooking at the crowded baths in front of him, Pollux said enviously, “I estimate that there would be five~six thousand people that have come here to take a bath today. Davos has earned a lot of money!”

“Who told you not to join when the archon was raising money?” Enanilus snapped at him. He then took off his chiton and sandals and gave them to the slaves. He then strode towards the hot spring pool on the smooth marble floor.

Pollux caught up in a hurry.

Enanilus slowly sat down in the pool water, and the perfect water temperature made him let out a comfortable sigh. He then picked up hot spring water and thoroughly wet his face.

With the shadows of people moving back and forth, the crowd’s sight was obscured, making them not notice that two statesmen were sitting naked with them.

Enanilus closed his eyes, leaned against the bath’s wall, and seemed to have fallen asleep, which made Pollux swallow his words several times.

After soaking in the hot spring bath for more than ten minutes, Enanilus came to a smaller bath next to him, where the water was not deep, and its bottom was covered with sea sand. Another small bath is paved with pebbles, while another is paved with river sand.\nEnanilus simply lay down and rubbed his back with the soft fine sand…soaking for more than ten minutes until his skin turned red. Then he got out of the pool and asked a slave to massage his whole body.

After another ten minutes, Enanilus got up. Then he asked his slave to pay for the massage, then dragged his relaxed body to a deserted corner. He sat down on the bench beside the window and closed his eyes.

Pollux went close to him, sat down, stretched himself and said, “Taking a hot spring bath is really comfortable! This hot spring that Davos built has truly brought great benefits to Thurii! Why had we not think of doing this before? He truly deserved to be the god’s favoured!”

Enanilus slowly opened his eyes, looked at him and said slowly, “Now that you know how powerful Davos is, why do you often take the lead to fight him in the Senate? Pollux, I remember that you were not so bold.”

Seeing that Enanilus finally spoke to him, Pollux became relieved. He then said with an aggrieved expression, “Of course, I know that the Theonia Union would not have been where it is today without Davos, and even I, also want to do something together with Davos, but he doesn’t give me a chance at all! He only valued his mercenaries, who could only speak through their fists and even place them in a high position! Now, there are also those barbarian chieftains who are more savage, with a foul breath, sitting in the Senate every day, shouting in Greek that no one could understand! And the Amendolarans, who were once driven by us, wore the so-called ‘founder badge’ every day, deliberately showing off in front of us…we are the true masters of Thurii, but now, we can only stand aside in the Senate! I, Ariphes, Marsyas…are just dressed in the cloak of statesmen, just to show it to the Thurians. But in fact, we are no different from ordinary citizens!…”

Enanilus glanced around. After seeing no one was paying attention to them in the noisy and crowded baths, he warned him in a deep voice, “You are too excited. Keep your voice down! Pollux, you just haven’t gotten your turn yet. Maybe next year, you will be a praetor of a certain city.”

Pollux sneered, “Enanilus, do not comfort me, as even you don’t believe what you are saying. Think about it. A Persian can sit on an important position as a Chief Commercial Officer for so many years without getting replaced for many years or elected. Am I any less capable than him?! Don’t forget, I also served as one of the ‘ten strategoi’ of Thurii many times back then. And even due to me having nothing to do in the Senate, Davos would sometimes send me to help this foreigner and be ordered by him! Is the Theonia Union still a place for us, real Thurian statesmen, to stay?”\nEnanilus tried to open his mouth, but no words came out.

“You would naturally might say, ‘You, Burkes, Ansitanos, Plesinas are all highly valued by the Senate.’” Pollux’ sneered once more, “How can Plesinas compare with us?! He is nothing more than a commoner and has now become a dog of Davos, who uses him to bite. Ansitanos, on the other hand, was completely absorbed in the book he was going to write and had no power over anything else. While Burkes, even though he is still the head of the Ministry of Agriculture, was only working with peasants and slaves every day that he could only return to Thurii a few times a month! Sometimes, he can’t even attend an important Senate meeting. He is more like an ordinary union official than a statesman. As for you – Enanilus, you indeed hold power over the navy, just that-”

Pollux then intentionally paused.

Enanilus turned his head, then asked casually, “Just what?”

With a slight smile, Pollux said, “Over the past few years, Davos has allowed foreigners to build shipyards in Thurii, breaking the monopoly of your family on shipbuilding. What is your opinion about that?”

Enanilus’ brows slightly twitched, then said slowly, “That’s because Theonia’s territory is too wide that we need more warships to protect our coast. And my family…can’t produce so many warships in a short time…”

“Oh, you are really thinking for the sake of the union?!” Pollux then said sarcastically while looking at him, “It’s a pity that Davos doesn’t seem grateful to you. What do you think about the fact that he let his second wife’s family get more share of the warship than yours?”

Enanilus became silent. Fortunately, the embarrassment on his face was covered by his flushed skin due to the hot spring water. Due to the monopoly of their shipbuilding in recent years, the management became slack, making the completed warships have many quality problems. For this reason, Davos had talked to him alone several times. This is why the Senate passed the bill of “allowing merchants of allied city-states to build shipyards in Thurii” proposed by Davos.

\n“In fact, I have already gotten the support of some people…” Pollux’ whispered a few words in his ear.

Enanilus became dumbfounded and said, “Really?”

“When did I ever deceived you? It’s just like the last time when I told you how to get more land by freeing the slaves!” Reminded Pollux.

Enanilus clenched his hands again and again…finally, he clenched them into a fist.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

“Esteemed statesmen of the Senate, I have a proposal.” Pollux stood up from his seat.

Seeing the situation, the others suddenly had a helpless expression of “here we go again”.