Bandit

The next day, more exciting news came, and Tissaphernes announced that the Greek mercenaries could plunder this area to be fed.

Everyone cheered, except Davos, who was silent, 'The plunder… is revenge on Cyrus the Younger! But what does the people here have to do with Cyrus the Younger's rebellion?… No! Just because they live here, they will suffer this disaster! Tissaphernes is indeed vicious! And the Greeks?…'

In the afternoon, the Menon mercenaries rushed into a village.

The quiet village soon became filled with screams and cries…

Davos saw with his own eyes that his comrades, who were usually close and friendly with him, had changed into bandits at this moment. They stabbed the Persian men who tried to stop them, kicked over the old man who was holding them and begging, picked up the Persian women who were crying and broke into every house, took away the livestock, stole the gold and silver, and carried the food… There was a ferocious expression of greed and madness on each of their faces, which made Davos feel strange.

Davos wandered around the village weakly like a wandering soul, and the soldiers who saw him looked at him with surprise. Some Persians who were covered in blood and lying on the ground pointed at him and scolded him, and some old men who were limping hugged him and begged… although he couldn't understand what they were saying, but he knew what they were saying in his heart. What were they pleading for? But he was powerless.

As if avoiding the plague, he staggered and wanted to run to a deserted place to avoid the angry gazes that made him feel guilty. At the same time, he comforted himself in his heart, 'This is war, this is war!! I was forced….'

At this time, a sudden scream woke him up, it was Olivos' voice!

Davos shivered, I am afraid that Olivos is in danger!

He quickly followed the sound and rushed into a house. In the yard, a Persian man was lying in a pool of blood. He didn't have time to think and kicked open the ajar door: Olivos was naked and lying on the bed without moving. There was a girl about ten years old curled up by the bed, holding a big stone and trembling…

When Davos saw this situation, he could roughly guess what had happened. Obviously, Olivos had taken a fancy to the beauty of the mistress, so he killed the man first, then forcefully carried the woman to the bed and ravaged her. He was in a state of excitement, but his daughter, who was hiding, ran out and smashed him with a rock…

Shameless! He cursed in his heart, but he still shouted out of the concern of his comrades, "Olivos, are you okay?!"

Olivos didn't answer, but it woke the little girl up. She quickly turned her head and saw another Greek soldier standing at the door, and screamed as if he was greatly stimulated, "Bandits! Bandits! Crush you!! Crush you!…" She struggled to throw the stone in her hand to Davos, and at the same time, she rushed towards him.

Davos subconsciously blocked the stone with the round shield in his left hand, and naturally revealed the spear in his right hand.

The girl ignored the shiny spear tip and didn't dodge it. Instead, she rushed forward crazily.

Davos didn't have time to dodge, he only felt his right hand sink and the girl's hands just grabbed his face and fell on him.

The woman on the bed screamed in despair and threw herself at him naked. Davos weakly took a few steps back and let the woman hold the girl with a spear in her chest tightly. The heart-wrenching scream was like a sharp knife stabbing his heart, making him feel dizzy and he was about to faint, but he was held up by someone.

"Are you okay?!" In a trance, Davos heard Hielos' voice.

"I'm fine." He pushed Hielos away and slowly walked to the courtyard.

Hielos had noticed the abnormality of Davos before, so he had been following him. At this moment, although he was worried about Davos, he was more worried about the safety of Olivos in the room, so he quickly rushed into the room…

When he walked out of the house, he found Davos sitting on the side of the road, leaning against the wall of the courtyard, looking at the sky with lifeless eyes, not moving at all, and he didn't know what he was thinking…

Hielos wanted to pull him up, but he felt that it was inappropriate, so he thought about it and just sat with Davos…

After a long time, Davos suddenly stood up and shouted in a strange voice, repeatedly shouting, and tears fell down his cheeks…

After a moment, he calmed down and asked, "What about the woman?"

"She's crazy." Hielos sighed.

Davos was silent for a long time, and said, "Her husband and daughter are dead, so perhaps being crazy is the best relief for her…"

"Yes." Hielos felt the pity in his words and said, "Olivos is fine, he just got knocked out. He woke up just now and is resting in the house."

Davos didn't speak, and Hielos saw the cold light in his eyes and couldn't help but tremble.

"Now, we need to ask the people in this manor if they are familiar with Persian geography." Davos stood up.

Hielos hesitated for a moment, "We just robbed them, so I'm afraid they won't tell us."

"There will be a way for them to say it." Davos said lightly, but it made Hielos feel a chill. The Davos in front of him seems to be different from the previous him, and Hielos doesn't know whether this change is good or bad…

At dusk, the mercenaries abandoned the village that was full of wolves and crying and returned with a load. Davos had also found the person he wanted – a Persian merchant. In order to make him open his mouth, Davos had also let Hielos and the others capture his wife and daughter. Although Tissaphernes had explicitly ordered that no Persian was allowed to be captured as a slave, the whole Menon camp ignored what Davos had done and even covered it up for him.

Davos successfully brought them back to the camp.

…

"Are you saying that our team is moving northwest?" Davos looked at the Persian merchant named Marigi and asked. The interpreter next to him repeated what Davos had said in Persian.

This short, slightly plump Persian who claimed to be just doing a small business looked carefully at Davos, then quickly lowered his head and gestured on the grass with a branch, "According to what you have said before, you are going back to Eonia. Eonia is in the Aegean Sea in the west. You have passed through Babylon, Otis, and now you are here… if you keep going west, not only will it be a long journey, but you will also have to take a detour around the Toros mountain range that is difficult to cross…"

He then looked at Davos and saw that he was listening carefully, so he raised his voice a bit more, "So you are obviously going northwest along the Tigris River, through the mountains of Duchya, Amelia, and finally to the sea of Ulke (the Black Sea) and return to Aeoria…"

"Oh, I see! It seems that the route arrangement of Tissaphernes is still reasonable." Olivos suddenly realized.

Davos found that when Marigi heard this, his whole body trembled. He immediately glared at Olivos.

"Shut up!" Matonis cursed in a low voice. Olivos, who usually likes to bicker with Matonis, had obediently stopped talking.

Davos stared at the sketch on the ground and looked at it carefully for a while, then asked, "Where do you think it will be more troublesome to march on our future route?"

Mariji said without hesitation, "The mountainous region of Duchya! There are savage and fierce Duchians living there, and they won't easily let strangers pass through their land, but -" He glanced at Olivos and quickly said, "Your team is huge, and there are Persians leading the way, so it should be easy to pass."

"How do you know that our team is huge?" Davos immediately asked.

"Because… because before I came in, I saw your camp one after another…" Mariji began to tremble.

Davos patted his shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't be afraid, your observation is good. Tissaphernes, do you know him?"

Mariji immediately shook his head. Suddenly, he thought of something and nodded vigorously, and his voice trembled even more, "I just heard that… because he once… accused our lord, Cyrus, of rebellion… and almost got his head cut off…"

Davos looked at him, and he guiltily avoided Davos' gaze.