Agasias was surprised for a moment and said in embarrassment, âYour majesty, if you add the prisoners together, they numbered no less than 10,000! In contrast, there are only more than 2,000 soldiers in Aprustum. Besides that, I have to leave some soldiers to defend the city, so I fear I canât escort that many prisonersâŠâ
âDonât worry. I will leave a thousand soldiers from the sarissa brigade under your command and would return to Thurii with you.â Davos already made a plan. After all, the Syracusan army now had far fewer troops than the army he led after suffering a disastrous defeat. In addition, with the next battle being a siege battle, the sarissa brigade has no place to play.
âUnderstood.â Agasias could only nod his head in acceptance while looking at the line of captives and said with concern, âBut I fear that the addition of 10,000 prisoners would make Theoniaâs food situation even more intense.â
âAnsitanos already went to Carthage by boat a few days, and I believe we can sign some agreements with them this time.â Davos said confidently.
âCarthage?â Agasias frowned, âDidnât they already reject our request for an alliance before?!â
âThe current situation is different from before the war started-â Davos was about to explain to him in detail when a loud cry came from a distance, âLord Davos!â
After taking a closer look, Davos saw Siprus and another man surrounded by a team as they approached them.
Davos went to meet them while his guard followed him closely.
âThanks to you, Theonians, we finally won this important battle! We have defeated the vicious Syracusans! Magna Graecia is now saved!â Siprus then excitedly gave Davos a firm hug.
Davos patted him on the shoulder and said seriously, âIf you hadnât resisted Syracuseâs full attack on the left-wing, it would be difficult to say the result of this battle. Thus it is safe to say that we, the South Italian Alliance, worked together to win this battle that would decide our survival!â
âThatâs fair enough. Our citizens didnât die in vain!â A cold voice came from beside Siprus.
Davos turned his head to look at the one who had just spoken: He was a burly middle-aged man with a bearded face. He looked at Davos with a somewhat complicated expression.
âStrategos Milo?â Davos had already guessed his identity.
âI am Milo, who you defeated a few years ago. Finally, Crotone forced me to leave.â Milo said with a somewhat unpleasant expression.
Davos did not mind as he deeply said, âThere is a saying in the east, âYou wonât know each other if you donât fightâ! We, Theonians, were really frightened when you marched towards Thurii with great speed. Since then, I have always wanted to meet you, but I didnât expect that I would only meet you after a few years passed. Still, itâs fortunate that Theonia and Crotone are now allies who have fought for our life and death together, and I am honoured to fight side by side with you in such a battle related to the survival of Magna Graecia and to defeat a powerful enemy! I think recalling you back is the wisest choice that the council of Crotone made in this war, which allowed Crotone to persist until today and gained time for our South Italian Alliance to gather our strength and fight back against the Syracusans, leading to todayâs victory! On behalf of Theonia, I thank you and the citizens of Crotone who fought to the death!â
After finishing his speech, Davos solemnly saluted Milo. But the truth is, Davos didnât know what Milo had done after he returned to Crotone, so his praise of Milo was more to compensate for Theoniaâs delay in rescuing Crotone.
So as soon as he finished speaking, The Crotonian soldiers behind Milo straightened their chests as pride filled their hearts, âThis is the praise of the famous and invincible strategos of Magna Graecia â Davos!â
Even Milo became slightly excited as he hurriedly saluted back, âItâs my honour to fight with you, Lord Davos!â
âItâs all the arrangement of fate! As now that we in the South Italian Alliance are like one family, we must not allow the Syracusans to just enter and leave!â Siprus took the chance to agree.
âLord Davos.â Milo hesitated and said, âI am afraid that we would not be able to send another army to fight against the Syracusans. Furthermore, now that the Syracusans have burned even our Acropolis, the citizens urgently need to rebuild their homes!âŠâ
âI understand.â Davos said sincerely, âCrotone has sacrificed a lot in this war! So if you have any difficulties, feel free to tell us, and we, Theonians, will do our best to assist! In addition, feel free to leave your wounded to us for treatment as we will do our best to save them!â
These promises made by the new king of Theonia â Davos, were what the Crotonians needed to hear the most at this moment! For this reason, Milo sincerely thanked Davos once again and then returned to Crotoneâs Acropolis with his men.
âLord Davos, we would like to join you in fighting the Syracusans!â Watching the Crotonian leave, Siprus then loudly said.
âYou are very welcome!â As he knew what Siprus wanted, Davos happily said, âI think it would be easier to recapture Terina after attacking Scylletium tomorrow.â
âMay Apollo bless you!â Siprus had the same idea as he didnât think that after the defeat of the Syracusan army, the thousands of enemies in Terina would dare to stay there and wait for the tens of thousands of Theonian troopsâ attack.
âYour majesty! Your majesty Davos!âŠâ Just as they began discussing, Davos could hear a familiar voice from a distance.
Davos opened his eyes in surprise at seeing the young figure appear in front of him, âWhy are you here?!â
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Henipolis shrugged his should and said, âIâm here to keep my promise â to be your clerk, your majesty.â
âHeni, there is no need to be in a rush just to be my clerk at this time! You are the archon of Laos, and you had just taken back Laos from your rebellious uncle! Instead, you should have stayed with the people of Laos to restore the order as soon as possible!â Davos looked at his relaxed appearance and couldnât help but remind him.
âYour majesty, there is no need for you to worry. Ariandos is there to maintain the cityâs order, and Bagul also helps manage the city matters. Besides, Praetor Hemon of Nerulum could give his assistance at any time, so my presence or absence there wonât affect Laosâ governance.â
Henipolisâ words astonished Davos, âYou asked Bagul to handle Laosâ matters for you?!â
âCanât I? Those things I am going to implement are originally from Thurii, and Bagul, the Praetor of Grumentum, should be very familiar with it and fully capable of dealing with the various difficulties brought about by reforming Laos. On the contrary, my presence there would hinder him from using his authorityâŠâ Henipolis glibly.
Davos didnât know how to respond for a moment, but his expression was still one of rebuke, âThe highest authority of a city-state hadnât shared the difficulties with the people of the city but slipped away? What would the people of Laos think once they found out about this?!â
But Davos couldnât say those words out loud in such a public place. Just when he was thinking of lecturing Henipolis in private, Henipolis saw through his thoughts and stepped forward and whispered, âYour majesty, I have something important to discuss with you; thatâs why I came here with Hielosâ army!â
When Davos saw he spoke so seriously, he asked subconsciously, âWhatâs the matter?â
Henipolis glanced at Siprus beside Davos, but instead of whispering what he wanted to say, he intentionally made his voice a little louder, âAfter this incident, I realised that I am not interested in managing a city-state, and Laos couldnât continue developing safely and prosperously without Theonia. Thus I decided to merge Laos into Theonia!â
Davos was shocked at hearing those words because Henipolis was really serious; it was evident that he had long thought much about it.
At this moment, countless thoughts flashed rapidly in Davosâ mind, but he forcibly suppressed them and said only a sentence, âWe will discuss this later in my tent.â
Then he turned around and said, âThis is Lord Siprus, the polemarchos of Terina!â
Henipolis hurriedly greeted him, âLord Siprus, I had met you several times before at his majestyâs residence.â
âOh, right.â Siprus smiled reluctantly. After all, even though he goes to Davosâ residence every time he goes to Thurii, how could he bother to remember a teenager he met by chance in the courtyard? Still, he was shocked about the news he had just heard and then looked at the spirited young man in front of him. He didnât know what kind of impact Laos taking the initiative to merge into Theonia would have on the Theonia Union and the other city-states of the South Italian Alliance? And what would Terina, which had also suffered the flames of war, do?
Siprus sighed in his heart and said, âLord Henipolis, congratulations on taking back Laos!â
Henipolis smiled inwardly after noticing the anxiety on Siprusâ expression. Still, he thanked him and said, âI had just separated from strategos Phromelas, and he should now be with Lord Hielos in escorting the prisoners. In this battle, Terinaâs soldiers played a huge role in blocking the fleeing Syracusans!â
Siprus hurriedly asked Phromelasâ location and then led the soldiers away.
âIt was thanks to Hielos leading the army in time. Otherwise, the result of the battle wouldnât be so great!â Said Davos with a sigh as he watched the departing back of Siprus.