How the pharoh's empire works
We are elite. Most of us have arcane hearts. That means most of us have some abnormal tricks up our sleeves. We consume the least food while accomplishing the most. The empire loves low-grade arcane hearts. We are superhumans that they could afford to lose.
According to Commander Kahir, the Quraysh razed another town to the ground . The land of empire spans in all directions. It's not only in the circumference of the Nylle that Pharoh's rule reigns supreme. The pharoh has to intervene in such cases if the local forces fail to deal with them.
The Pharoh's intervention isn't free. The fact that capital had to intervene means the local authorities, through some flaw, failed to deal with the problem at hand. They will be thoroughly investigated and punished if necessary. There is no respite for some local corrupt asshole selling out the pharoh's people in the pharoh's court. God damn, I love the pharoh so much. Every time I behold his picture on the barracks, I'm overcome with emotion. He is truly God's descendant in the world. That look and that smile send shivers down my spine.
We will fly over the desert skies for a day. We need to figure out where the Quraysh are camping. We spotted a lot of desert camps, but there is no telling which ones are Quraysh and which ones are just regular desert folk.
"Commander Kahir, how are we differentiating between the Quraysh and the normal desert folk?"
He looked at me, confused.
"Aren't they all Quraysh?"
Fucking incompetent bastard. He was going to murder people because he was so stupid.
"No, sir, they aren't all Quraysh."
He looked like he swallowed a bug. I understood what was happening.
"Sir, were you planning to decimate them from above?"
He gave me his dreaded response. In all my years, I never heard such a wicked word come out of a person's mouth.
"Yes."
Why? Why is this guy so callous?
"That will surely eradicate the Quraysh, but it is guaranteed to create five other Qurayshs in the future."
Wars must have their purpose. Without a clear purpose, the war will never end.
Are we trying to be safe? Are we trying to solve the Manat worshipper problem once and for all? What are we willing to do for these purposes? Commander Kahir is thinking about achieving efficiency and security in a truly moronic way.
"That's far too costly, sir. All we have to do is find some Quraysh women and separate them from their men. I can convince them to sell their men out."
He looked at me with a doubting face. He clearly thought I was going to use my masculine wiles to seduce them. He is looking at me as if I were delusional.
"When you see them, you'll understand what I'm saying."
Unlike their men, Al-Manat worshipper women are easily identifiable. They are wrapped in layers and layers of clothes, with their eyes barely peeking out.
I requested that Commander Kahir descend to the small group of Quraysh people down there. There were three women following one man.
"Salutations friend, I'm Zaffer. I'm invoking the name of Manat so we can have an honest conversation. Don't lie in the name of Manat."
The man sat on the ground and invited me to sit in front of him.
"What does our religion say about the unbelievers? How should we treat them?"
The man looked at the people behind me; these people descended from the sky and had gleaming and sharp weapons on them. He recognized that he was in danger. He also recognized that he couldn't lie. I knew the answer as somebody clearly familiar with the scripture.
"We are supposed to wage war on the unbelievers and make them our servants and slaves if they fail to convert to our faith. That's the only way they can get into Al-Manat's paradise."
I nodded, satisfied with his honesty.
"Would you say this doctrine motivates you to wage an unending war upon unbelievers?"
He nodded. I can see from his face that he is under a lot of stress. The men behind me are staring daggers at him.
"What position do you think this puts the unbelievers in? Al Manat worshippers will always have problems with their people. The grudge between Al-Manat worshippers and unbelievers is irreconcilable. That puts us in a precarious position. You will have to leave the faith or suffer their wrath. You are declaring war on them just by believing in Al-Manat."
The man started crying. He is clearly scared shitless. I don't pity him. He has multiple wives. It's almost a certainty that some of them were kidnapped from their homes.
"That's an issue for later. Now tell me, what are you allowed to do if your wives misbehave?"
He averted his gaze. He did what he was allowed by his religion to do when he was strong. Now, since there are angry men behind me and he is the weak one in this situation, he acts like he is ashamed. I don't like this guy.
"I'm allowed to beat them."
I turned to women in clothes covered head to toe.
"Did he beat you? Are you alright with getting beaten willy-nilly?"
I'm signaling to them that I'm their salvation. One of them screamed. It's a scream to give her courage. She disrobed herself and exposed her naked body. Purple bruises, black bruises, and even green bruises. She is crying her eyes out. Either she has been pulling on her hair or someone has pulled her hair out. There are bald spots on her head.
"Anyone else want to save themselves? Or are you women too devout Al-Manat worshippers?"
The man is fuming in anger at the fact that his woman disrobed herself in front of other men. He doesn't care about the grave injuries she suffers. His honor has been stained by her naked body. If we let him take her away again, he will beat her like a dog again.
One of the other women revealed her face. She has purple under her eyes. When someone gets beaten up, it causes the underneath of their eyes to go purple.
I got up.
"I think what you did to these women is despicable; I challenge you to the trial of Manat. Al-Manat shall judge you. If you are able to defeat me, I swear my companions will not hurt you."
The man solemnly nodded, preparing himself for a fight to the death.
He picked up his sword, and we started circling each other. He turned his sword around in a display of dexterity. He is nimble with his fingers.
So, I blasted off a chunk of his face with an energy burst. He fell forward with a thud.
"Manat had decreed through trial by combat that this man was unjust. The women will come with us and answer our questions."
I turned towards our commander and my brothers in arms.
"The ones who were beaten will be taken more seriously when listening to what they have to say. The others might be true Al-Manat worshippers who are trying to deceive you. If you find out they are true Manat worshippers, kill them. As long as Manat worship stands, there will be no peace on these sands. We will move according to more valid testimonies. They scattered throughout the desert. There was indeed a spy in the merchant's guild who notified them of our arrival.
Thanks to the testimonies, we can pick off these weak and fragmented people one by one and force them to regroup into a large army, which we could then crush. In the meantime, we will have to protect towns and caravans to starve the Quraysh out. They depend on banditry for a living. For them, working for a living is not that manly. They would rather rob and take heads."
I looked at Commander Kahir and said,
"If we did it your way, we would fly around all day, blasting innocent desert travelers from the sky and creating new enemies through the fact you killed people without winning the argument and justifying yourself first. That kind of oppression isn't something that can be forgiven.
It might sound easy and efficient to blast people from the sky, but it's actually not. Each of these blasts is worth the weekly salary of a mundane warrior. Someone works for a week to make it happen. As of now, it's only the cost of the flight and food we need to concern ourselves with.
Once they gather their army in one place, then the blasts will be worth it."