Herald of Steel

The propaganda drive to show just how rich and prosperous Tibias was and thus how great an accomplishment it was for Alexander to conquer them worked very well with the crowd.

The fertile farmlands, the fantastical fishes, the abundant fruits and vegetables, and even the carcass of a mythical dragon all caused the people to cry out in elation.

"To think Tibias was so rich! I never knew!"

"Haha right! I always assumed they were poor beggars."

"Mmmm, I always wondered why the Pasha would want to attack them. Now I get it!"

"Of course, the pasha is so much more knowledgeable than us. It is little wonder he has managed to accomplish so much in so little time!"

"Right! Tibias is just the start! With him leading us, we will conquer the entire world soon!"

Just as Alexander had hoped, the rich loot of Tibias spurred the public to want to go out and conquer other distant lands, all wishing to be led by the man himself.

But for now, they decided to restrain themselves and focus on what else Alexander had to show them.

For the parade was certainly not over.

Following the depictions of the battle, and the revealing of the riches such sacrifices granted them, came the time to show the public the actual booty Alexander and his men had managed to claim for themselves.

Hence came the third group of carts, the leading ones this time filled to the brim with gold and silver.

There were heaps of gold and silver coins, gold and silver cups, gold and silver plates, and gold and silver jewelry, studded with various precious stones like diamonds, sapphires, and ruby, along with necklaces of pearls and opals dotted here and there, all shining and sparkling under the morning sunshine.

There was even one cart that was occupied by only solid lumps of gold statues of various Tibian heroes and legends which were considered religious artifacts, the sheer volume drawing gazes of awe and longing from the crowd.

Because the crowd had no prior experience to draw any comparisons against, even the relatively modest gold obtained from the campaign was enough to make them stunned out of their mind.

None of them had ever even imagined such wealth, much less seen it.

In fact, until they were shown today, most of these peasants and other low level people did not even know such wealth existed.

So the display made them very excited.

And in order to impress them, Alexander also played some subtle tricks to inflate the amount of his spoils.

He did this because the amount of booty he managed to capture during the campaign was actually not that high in raw gold amount.

Tibias only had a few mines and its royal treasury was found to be mostly empty by the time Alexander got to it.

So the trains of carts filled with gold and silver were not actually filled with these precious metals from the bottom to the top.

Instead, Alexander had much of the volume filled with hay, with only a thin, top layer forming the gold and silver ornaments.

And it was only that layer that was glimmering and shimmering in the light.

But since no one would ever know this, there was no harm done.

Thus the people were left content to rejoice at the vast loot being presented to them as they eagerly looked at the 'huge riches' that were sure to enrich their city.

Following the most precious of the loot, came several carts stacked of rolled fabric, piled up into almost a small hill.

Then there were many expensive dresses and costumes, both male and female, with the most beautiful ones displayed in wooden dummies like one would in a showroom.

Gowns, dublets, tunics, and pants were all on display, red, blue, orange, green, yellow, and gold in color, with many being studded with pearls and diamonds, featuring the latest fashion of the country letting the crowding Zanzanites see and appreciate the clothes and culture of their neighbors.

"Such high collars!"

"Phhhfff! What are they gonna do with so many frills."

contemporary romance

"The waist so narrow. Do the Tibians have no bones? Or are they so poor and malnourished?"

"The skirt is so long! It looks like a dust broom. Hahaha."

Although most of this 'appreciation' was blatant mockery.

Which was actually quite par for the course of the time.

Anything that was different was always seen and attacked with such hostility by the native populace.

However, what the people here remained largely ignorant of was that all these dresses belonged only to the nobility.

And even among them, most of these dresses belonged to those possessing the outmost eccentricity.

In fact, Alexander had chosen them especially due to their unique design and shock value.

Whereas the normal, everyday people of Tibias wore very similar clothes to their Zanzan counterparts.

In fact, most commoners in the surrounding lands mostly wore the same thing.

But showing that would have been too boring.

And Alexander's decision proved on the dot as the crowd cheered, laughed, and gasped at these strange and sometimes scandalous clothes.

After these fabrics came beautiful metal working tools and intricate pottery pieces, a train length of the stuff due to their large volume.

All of these featured beautiful and ornamental iron and bronze showpieces in the shape of birds, beasts, and various states, as well as vibrant vases and pots of myriads, shapes, and sizes, ranging from small handhelds to gigantic ones enough to fit a couple of men inside them.

None of these were too shocking to the crowd, so the procession moved on to their penultimate item- the slaves.

For this show, both men and women were put on display, made to march through the streets in segmented blocks with a few guards dressed in ceremonial armor behind them to keep them from escaping.

Now, Alexander obviously did not show off all the tens of thousands of slaves he had captured.

That alone would have all day.

Thus only the best and most beautiful of the slaves were given this 'honor, and made to parade themselves in front of a gathered crowd.

And if that was not enough of a humiliation, their current 'dress' certainly was.

First came the men, all oiled up and glistening under the sun, fully bare except for a small linen cloth bound around their lower parts, barely hiding their unmentionables.

Meaning their upper torso, as well as their thighs and legs, were all up for all the world to ogle at, and as the men walked, they certainly felt many lecherous gazes grazing over their well muscled abs, their thick arms and powerful thighs and legs.

All the men were chosen for their handsome appearance and great physique, and as the sweat rolled over their oiled bodies, their healthy skin almost sang with a healthy sheen, causing the nearby crowd to marvel at the display.

The peasants marveled at these well built men, while their wives blushed and lowered their heads before shyly sneaking a second glance at these perfect specimens such was their charm, as those unmarried in the crowd dreamed of their husbands being half as handsome as this.

And lastly, the few slavers in there sighed ruefully at the magnificent specimen they failed to catch in time.

None of these groups however expressed a longing a buy them, because they knew it was too far fetched a dream.

Instead, it was the few nobles who had come to attend the parade who started to comment on these excellent slaves,

"All these are very high quality bulls. Perfect to work in the mines."

"Yes! I agree. Hopefully, the pasha will offer to sell them to us. My silver mines certainly could use more workers."

"Hmmp! Why would you waste many good muscles in the mines? It's the fields where they belong. Have them growing beetroots! That is the new silver!"

"Hahaha, Lord Lian, are you sure you want them to work them in the beet fields and not your wife's warm field while you watch?"

"Yes, yes. Or your own. I'm sure every one of them has the cock to watch those muscles. Your small back hole will surely never close if you let them pound them, hohoho."

When among friends sharing similar 'interests', some of the topics these nobles engaged in private were so crass and depraved that would put even the most ruthless and coarse barbarians to shame.

For instance here was a man who liked to watch his wife do it with another man, and then after the deed was done, would ask the man to do the same to him, because the mixed juices would turn him on.

Utterly disgusting.

And it was not just the men who were this depraved.

Some of the ladies, who attended the parade from their carriage also commented various lewd things among themselves, showing whatever fate remained for these slave men, if Alexander chose to sell them, it was not going to be pretty.

It was apparent that although many of the nobles had switched over to Alexander's side, they had not switched over their habits.

Pasha Muazz's shadows continued to linger even under Alexander's enlightening rule and it was only a matter of time before Alexander was made to come face to face to deal with it.

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