Loyal Zealot

Alexander turned back to look at the man, who seemed to be finding it hard to form words.

"A little thing. A tiny thing. It's really no big deal. " He started to stammer and beat around the bush.

Alexander had never seen the always eloquent man lose himself like this and subconsciously a frown formed on his face.

Noticing this, Theocles finally plucked up the courage to straightforwardly asked, "Are you really not blessed by Gaia?"

His tone and expression were wildly different from what Alexander had ever seen before. Instead of the usual rough, deep voice, it was deferential and he looked at him with almost puppy dog eyes.

Alexander instinctively wanted to deny this, but stopped himself.

This could be an opportunity, he thought.

So he said, "I will deny ever saying this, but the goddess Gaia has told me not to reveal myself yet. Her whims are fickle and I can only get glimpses of what she wants to show me."

What Alexander really meant by that was 'The knowledge I have with me might or might not help us out of this predicament. So don't count on it too much.'

But Theocles interpreted it as 'Goddess Gaia does speak to me. But she sends things according to her will, not according to my needs..'

Upon hearing Alexander tacitly confirm his connection to divinity, Theocles practically leaped up in joy, his hooded eyes lighting up as he promised, "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. If I utter a single word about it, let me be damned to the river Styx for all eternity."

It had to be said that Theocles was not a god-fearing man.

He could even be labeled as being closer to being atheistic rather than theistic.

That was until he met Alexander.

The young boy had displayed knowledge and maturity that in his eyes really would only come from the gods.

As such, his theist views started to overtake his atheistic ones, and although Alexander himself always denied it, he still held the view of him being related to the gods.

So getting an explicit confirmation of his beliefs was enough to send the man over the moon.

But, what about Alexander saying he could not see the messages properly?

How can someone claim to be able to talk to gods and not understand what they are saying?

Wasn't that just fraud?

Well, how can it be easy for mortals to understand a god?

Given the gods' infinite knowledge, it's only natural for any human to feel overwhelmed and not be able to fully comprehend their messages.

The fault lay not with the gods in their infinite power, but with the frail human minds' inability to accommodate and comprehend them.

Of course, this belief was not Theocles's but spread throughout the ancient world by soothsayers.

Soothsayers were a real thing in this period and place, holding positions of power enough to affect every policy of a nation.

They did not only exist in small or medium city-states but also held immense power in places like Cantagena, Adhania, and even in the broken royal court of Mikana.

The things they said when they were put in a trance and made to participate in an annual ceremony were heard and interpreted by the ruling class and the city's next year policies were decided based on this.

Once a soothsayer of a small city-state prophesy was interpreted as the ruler's newborn son one day growing up to overthrow him.

Hearing this the ruler did not abandon, exile, or simply kill his new flesh and blood.

No, that would have been far too humane.

He cooked and ate the boy.

Such was the immense power soothsayers held over those who chose to believe them.

Hearing Theocles's passionate vow, although Alexander kept a poker face, internally he was happy as a punch.

He had just obtained a blindly loyal, god-fearing zealot with access to all the camp's resources.

So he decided to play the part of a divine being, "Gaia has witnessed your vow and is impressed with your pure heart. She said never to lose that purity and never to lead someone astray."

What Alexander meant by that was- 'Don't ever fuc*ing lie to me.'

Hearing Gaia had talked to Alexander about him just now, Theocles felt an overwhelming surge of emotions and he simply prostrated onto the ground, completely surrendering his heart and soul to Alexander.

Then he solemnly declared, " I hereby declare to follow the son of Gaia till my death. May the goddess witness me and save my soul from damnation."

Responding to his first follower's promise, Alexander quickly replied in a deep, pious tone, "Work hard, and Gaia will surely take you in her gentle embrace."

"I will. And I still remember the Holy son asking me about the food crisis before. Please let your faithful servant manage it. I promise to not disappoint you."

He then looked at Alexander with zealous flames burning in his eyes.

Seeing someone so eager to work so hard for him, Alexander consented, "Okay, I will leave it to you then. And remember to call me Alexander as you did before. The goddess still doesn't want me to reveal myself." Alexander reminded.

"Yes, a thousand apologies. I will be sure to remember it." Theocles swiftly replied.

"I will leave you to your work then. I want to see how the battle is going." Saying this, Alexander strode out of the tent,

"Then please take care. And I will always be available if you require even the smallest assistance." Theocles shouted from the back as he showed him out with the utmost deference.

As he left, Alexander muttered in his heart "I can see the appeal.", referring to the many examples of people in his previous life who claimed to be gods and created their cults.

Just the power and pleasure he felt with only one follower prostrating before him was so intoxicating.

Alexander's heart throbbed in both fear and excitement at the thought of what it would feel like if an entire nation did this.