Chapter 97: Cornelius

Cornelius was excited and anxious as he was led into the city hall by the soldiers.

Since the occupation of Amendolara by the Lucanians. the life of Cornelius had been hell for the past six months. During the day, they will go out to graze the animals, cut down trees and carry the goods under the supervision of the Lucanians. If they slack off, the lightest punishment would be getting scolded while in the worst case it would be getting whipped or not given any food. In the evening, he was imprisoned with the others in the temple of Zeus. Although the temple is large, thousands of people crowded together to do their daily routine* inside. The air was dirty and the space was narrow. Moreover, the children often made noises and the adults weep, which made him to not be able to sleep soundly every night. At the same time, the Lucanians only gave them food enough to make them half full, which made them weak, and a lot of them constantly fall ill and die. (TL note: eat, drink, shit, pee, sleep)

During his long period of imprisonment, Cornelius, like everyone else, was exhausted both physically and mentally. And had already accepted his fate and felt that he would live such an empty life until he quietly go to the underworld….

However yesterday, they were urgently gathered together to load the carts and carry supplies, and were busy till late night. Even the ferocious Lucanians started to work as well, and Cornelius noticed the panic in their expression.

Sure enough, the people who could understand the language of the Lucanians quietly told them that he had overheard what the Lucanians were talking about, and they said that “…the army of Grumentum was annihilated by some Greek mercenary.” and “Those Greeks are murderous monsters, and are terrifying…” and so on.

This news cheered the people of Amendolara, as they saw hope of getting freed from their hardship. In the middle of the night, many people tossed and turned, and were unable to sleep. They then heard the faint sound of battle…

What is happening?!! The sensitive people of Amendolara got up one after another, and came to the gate of the temple and peek through the crack. The Lucanian guards panicked and yelled at each other, which allowed the people in the temple to hear what they said clearly, “The Greeks attacked the city!”

They were so flustered that the archon, Glatephro, who had always acted decisively, saw that the guards were leaving one after another. It seemed that they were going to reinforce their troops that were fighting down the mountain, and so he immediately organized the citizens to fight back. The people of Amendolara, who hated the Lucanians, work together to break through the gate and knock down the few remaining Lucanian guards with rocks and their fists.

They had just come out of the temple, but had encountered the Lucanians who had returned (In fact, the Lucanian warriors were totally unable to fight back the attack of the mercenaries. In his desperation, Vespa thought to hold the thousand of Greeks in the temple as hostage in exchange for the survival of his tribe.) Of course, the unarmed and frail people of Amendolara were not the opponents of the Lucanian warriors. However, the angry and hopeful people of Amendolara did not want to surrender again, as they had just broken out of their cage and their reinforcements were coming. As a result, the archon Glatephro was the first to die, and almost all the strong and powerful citizens who were charging at the front were almost annihilated. Just as the Lucanians could no longer control their impulse and were ready to kill the rest of the trembling people of Amendolara, the Greek mercenaries arrived.

In front of the people of Amendolara, these strong and burly soldiers showed their great power. In a flash, the enemies who had just been extremely vicious were crushed, and they then knelt down and surrendered.

The people of Amendolara couldn’t stop themselves from shaking, when the murderous soldiers approached them. Unexpectedly, these soldiers were full of concern and supported those that are weak, and prepared a clean bed, giving them steaming hot porridge, and the physicians carefully examined their bodies and treated their wounds.

Cornelius left tears of gratitude more than once, and he, like the others, began asking about the origin of this brave and caring troops. The soldiers, the physicians, the women who had bandaged their wounds and were called “nurse” by the soldiers, as well as the slaves, had told the people of Amendolara everything about themselves. Therefore, Cornelius knew that this Greek army had come from Asia Minor, and under the leadership of the Persian prince, Cyrus the Younger, they went deep into the territory of Persia to fight against the Persian king. Then, they safely returned to Byzantium, and accepted the employment of Thurii and came to Magna Graecia. After losing the battle that the Thurians had led, the mercenaries took the lead and joined with Taranto’s reinforcements, and completely annihilated the Lucanian alliance. Then, without even resting, they went to capture Amendolara last night and saved them…

The story of the mercenaries is as legendary and fascinating as the epic 《Odyssey》. What made Cornelius felt even more amazed is the leader of the mercenaries, Davos. According to the soldiers, this young leader was at first just an ordinary soldier, and there was nothing special about him. However, while they were fighting the army of the Persian King, he fell into a coma and after waking up, his character had not only changed a lot but also his intelligence and wisdom, and have manage to solved a lot of problems. The soldiers thought that it is due to Hades favoring him that he got enlightened and why he have changed. Hence they choose him as their leader, and Davos lived up to their expectations and created one miracle after another. He led the soldiers out of the Persian encirclement and return to Greece. When they got defeated in the battle and everyone was pessimistic, he resolutely launched an attack on the powerful Lucanian alliance and annihilated the enemy with a mix of troops, and created an almost impossible miracle. And then, when the others thought that the mercenaries needed a break after the war, he then launched another attack on Amendolara within that day…

Therefore, when the mercenary told Cornelius that their leader, Davos, wanted to see him, he was so eager to see the man that have led such a unique army and was respected and admired by his soldiers, and was called the “God’s Favored”, “The son of miracles”, “Our Davos”.

As soon as he entered the hall, he met a smiling young man and called out to him kindly, “Lord Cornelius!”

Cornelius was dumbfounded, “Are you?”

The guard that led him said with pride, “This is our leader, Davos!”

Although he learned from the mercenaries that Davos was a young man, Cornelius was still surprised by how young he is and so easygoing. He is totally different from the mercenary leader that have experienced many battles in his imagination. For a moment, he forgot his manners.

Davos was also looking at the Elder of Amendolara. It was said that his family was one of the founders of Amendolara more than 200 years ago, which has continued to this day. Even though there have been countless archons and elders, and Cornelius himself is only an elder, but he is kind and helpful, and has a high reputation among the people, which is why Davos had chosen him first. Looking at the middle-aged man who had been in prison for a long time, Davos asked him with concern, “I heard that you were wounded last night, are you feeling better now?”

Cornelius touch the bandage on his abdomen and said gratefully, “A lot better! Your physicians are very skilled! Leader Davos, I am thankful that you manage to arrived in time last night, otherwise we would all be finished!”

Davos heart jolted and looked carefully at Cornelius, his sincere appearance didn’t seem to be a lie. Last night, when he learned that the Lucanians had a fierce battle with the people of Amendolara that have escape the temple, he deliberately slowed down the pace of their attack, which resulted in the death of most of the young citizen of Amendolara. He felt a bit guilty and quickly said, “Err… Lord Cornelius, thank you for coming here today, I have something to tell you.. We will be leaving soon.”

Cornelius was startled, “WHY?”

“Although the Lucanians have suffered heavy damage this time, but after all, they have a large population, and we heard that Potentia is going to help Grumentum. Therefore, Thurii urgently asked us to go back and help them defend their city.”

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