“When have we Bruttians ever been so friendly to Greeks?! Is it because they are Theonians that we are afraid of them?!” Kanaru roared indignantly. Over the past year, although the Bruttians had been relatively closed off, they still had some understanding of major events happening outside. A powerful city-state alliance had suddenly risen around Bruttium, which indeed put pressure on the leaders of various tribes. Only young men like Kanaru refused to accept it: “We are wolves, and the Greeks are just sheep. Even if there are many sheep and they are fat, they cannot beat wolves!”

“Alright, Kanaru, don’t forget what your father told you before he left. You certainly don’t want him to hear again that you didn’t listen to our advice, get angry, strip you of the power you just obtained, and hand it over to your brother,” another older man stepped forward to persuade.

Kanaru seemed to remember something, and his face changed slightly. He turned and stormed out angrily, glaring viciously at Antaoris before leaving.

Antaoris was listening intently to his follower whispering the translation of their conversation when the old man walked over and said gently, “Envoy of Theonia, I am Bagilipi, a leader of Besidiae. This is Brim, also a leader of Besidiae.”

Antaoris smiled, bowed, and gave his name.

“We will immediately send someone to notify Cosenza of your arrival. You will stay in the city of Besidiae to rest for the time being. Once news of entry permission arrives, we will send someone to escort you to Cosenza.”

***

Bruttians slept simply, covering themselves with animal skins and sleeping directly on the wooden floor around the fire pit.

Antaoris and his party, exhausted and frightened after an afternoon of trekking, fell asleep as soon as they hit the floor after dinner, snoring quickly.

In the darkness, only one person still had his eyes open.

Of Antaoris’s three followers, one was his most trusted slave, who took meticulous care of his food, clothing, housing, and transportation along the way. Another was Adpigis, a translator specially found for him by the Senate because Antaoris did not understand the Bruttian language. He was a registered freedman of Theonia. His mother was Greek, abducted by Bruttians, and gave birth to him after being humiliated. He had been a slave of the Bruttians since childhood, tasted the hardships of life, and finally seized an opportunity to escape the Bruttian mountains, eventually making his way to Thurii. He had a deep hatred for Bruttians but was very capable of enduring it. The last follower who hadn’t fallen asleep yet was recommended to Antaoris by Marigi, claiming to be from the Ministry of Military Affairs. Considering that in case of war with the Bruttians in the future, it was necessary to understand the internal situation of the Bruttian region. In fact, he was a preparatory citizen of Theonia named Andropolites, the younger brother of Davos’s private intelligence officer Aristelas.

Since Izam‘s reconnaissance battalion had followed Davos to Taranto, Andropolites was indeed fulfilling reconnaissance duties in this regard. At this moment, he was trying hard to recall everything he had seen during the day: the approximate time spent on the road from Thurii to Besidiae, the difficulty of the road, the location and firmness of Besidiae city, the approximate population and number of soldiers in the city, judging the characters of several Besidiae leaders through conversation… etc. Andropolites recalled them over and over again until they were clearly engraved in his mind. Some vague places remained to be further confirmed by him the next day.

After this was done, Andropolites turned his gaze to Antaoris sleeping opposite him—this was his other target. He would closely monitor and observe the performance of this Crimisan who had newly joined the Senate in the upcoming mission to Cosenza.

This was not the first time Andropolites had done such a thing. In the beginning, he was somewhat resistant. He told his brother Aristelas: Hieron, the former tyrant of Syracuse, once established a secret service system to monitor the private lives of city-state citizens on a large scale, so his reputation was very bad. He didn’t want Davos, whom they attached themselves to, to become such a person.

However, Aristelas persuaded him: Hieron had a bad reputation mainly because he was too dictatorial, overly suspicious, and oppressed citizens, causing public grievances to boil. Davos, as a broad-minded and cool-headed Archon for Life, knows very well how to maintain the freedom of the people and should not make such mistakes. Moreover, his ability is outstanding; the rapid rise of the Theonian League explains everything. He is the best commander the two brothers favor to fight against Syracuse and rebuild Catania. Therefore, consolidating his leadership position and preventing people with ulterior motives from causing trouble has become one of Aristelas’s important duties.

Persuaded by his brother, Andropolites had tracked and investigated the movements of several Senators. It should be said that the vast majority of Senators supported and recognized Davos’s status as Archon for Life. A very small number of people, like Polyexis, were dissatisfied with Davos, but they only stopped at verbal complaints and had no specific actions. As for Antaoris, he was the leader of the three Crimisans who entered the Senate. After coming to Thurii, apart from attending Senate meetings, he lived in seclusion and had little contact with other Senators, which made Aristelas very curious. This mission was a good opportunity to understand this Crimisan, and also to provide a reference for Davos to use and appoint high-ranking officials in the future. At least from his current performance, although Antaoris was a noble of Crimisa, he could endure hardship and had courage. Andropolites looked forward to his next performance.

The next afternoon, a messenger arrived from Cosenza, and Antaoris and his party were granted permission to enter Cosenza.

Bagilipi also sent ten warriors, ostensibly to “escort” the Theonian envoy to Cosenza.

The group left the city and began to march west along the mountain road. Not far away, they were intercepted.

Kanaru appeared in front of them on horseback, saying triumphantly, “Greeks, I haven’t entertained you yet, and you want to leave just like that?!”

Antaoris and the others immediately felt tense.

At this time, the Bruttian warriors responsible for escorting stepped forward to persuade Kanaru but were blocked by his subordinates. “Don’t worry, I won’t make it impossible for you to explain when you go back.”

After making the promise, his face sank, and his eyes revealed a fierce light: “Whip them five times hard! Let them know that it’s not that easy for Greeks to pass through my Besidiae city without paying a price!”

After he finished speaking, before Antaoris and the others could react, the Bruttian warriors swarmed up and pinned them to the ground.

Five lashes for each person, flesh torn open. Adpigis was beaten into a rage and cursed loudly in Bruttian.

Kanaru listened but laughed heartily and shouted, “Whip him three more times!”

Adpigis wanted to curse again, but Antaoris shouted in a low voice, “Adpigis, don’t forget what we are here for!”

Adpigis was shocked upon hearing this and slowly lowered his head.

Seeing that the Greeks had no reaction, Kanaru felt bored. He dared not go too far lest he invite his father’s wrath. He shouted, “Cowardly Greeks, let’s go.” He shook the reins with both hands and galloped east along the road.

Antaoris and the four supported each other, moving forward with difficulty.

Although the terrain became higher and higher, the road was no longer rugged and difficult. The continuous mountains gradually receded to the sides. Ahead was gently rolling grassland. Dense, resilient grass was dotted with colorful wildflowers, like a vast, colorful carpet extending into the distance… Groups of cattle, sheep, and horses grazed quietly on the slopes or ran and played with their hooves raised. Scattered thatched cottages were located among them, some already emitting cooking smoke.

More and more people were seen on the road. Driving cattle and sheep and carrying goods on their backs, they appeared everywhere on the slopes, moving in the same direction.

By evening, Antaoris saw a majestic, huge shadow standing ahead by the moonlight. He knew Cosenza had arrived.

Since it was past the entry time, Antaoris and his party could only set up tents outside the city to spend the night.

Early the next morning, the escorting Bruttian warriors immediately notified the city.

Soon, Antaoris and his party were welcomed by guards sent by the Tribal League lined up and were invited to enter the city of Cosenza.

After breakfast, Antaoris was taken to the council hall of Cosenza. Compared to the thatched hut in Besidiae, this place was much more magnificent.

One person sat in the center, and three people sat on each side. The central seat was obviously higher, indicating a hierarchy.

Thinking about the news that various Bruttian tribes formed a tribal league under the leadership of the Great Chief of Cosenza, Antaoris bowed respectfully: “Respected Great Chiefs, I am Antaoris, envoy of Theonia, bringing greetings from the Theonian Senate!”

Before Adpigis could translate, the person in the middle spoke in Greek: “Envoy of Theonia, welcome to Cosenza, the center of the Bruttian Tribal League. I am Pianlun, the Great Chief of the entire Tribal League.”

As soon as his voice fell, the person sitting closest to his lower left stood up and asked in Greek, “Bruttium and Theonia have never had dealings. I wonder what the envoy is here for this time?”

As soon as these words came out, everyone else in the council hall focused their gaze on Antaoris.

Antaoris hadn’t expected the Bruttians to put the question on the table as soon as they met. He didn’t answer immediately but turned and asked, “May I ask who you are?”

“Sedorum, Great Chief of Vergae city, and also an elder of the Tribal League.” Among the several Great Chiefs, Sedorum was the only one who had crossed paths with Theonia. A year ago, when the Lucanian Alliance attacked Thurii, he had led his clansmen to attack the camp of Davos, the mercenary leader at the time and current Theonian Archon. Later, Davos devised a plan to encircle and annihilate the Lucanian coalition, allowing Sedorum to seize the opportunity to defect from the Lucanian Alliance. Afterward, because Vergae bordered Laos, he knew about the turmoil in Laos city, Avenogis taking power, Laos joining the Theonian League… a series of events happening like a revolving lantern. Therefore, although he had not met Davos yet nor dealt directly with Theonia, he was wary of Davos and Theonia. So when he learned that Theonia had sent an envoy, Sedorum warned the others to act cautiously because Theonia’s strength now significantly exceeded Bruttium’s.