Chapter 31 - One Hit Wonder (above)

 Just then, thunderous cheers rang out, "Davos! Davers!!! Davers!!! ..." The shouts were so neat and loud that they overpowered all the noise, causing several of the chiefs to lose color.

 "That's Menon's mercenaries!" Timasong tiptoed in the direction from which the voice had come.

 "It should be called Davos' Mercenaries now!" Hieronymus said enviously.

 Davos on the stage broke into a smile as he spoke, "Warriors of Greece, I am Davos of Thessaly, replacing Menon as the new chief!"

 When the soldier on the stage finished passing the message, the soldiers of Davos Barracks immediately all stood up and clapped and cheered for him, causing the other soldiers to look at each other in disbelief: are these guys crazy?

 Some people who knew the inside story began to sell the news in front of their companions, "I heard that this young man is Hades' divine dependent, and that every time he gets an 'oracle', it works like a charm!"

 "I heard he also magically brought dying soldiers back to life. Right! That's the one standing behind him!"

 "He also invented some things that are very useful to us! Like this one on my leg ... hmmm straps ..."

 The soldiers spread the word by word of mouth. In the blink of an eye, everyone looked at him with less scorn and more curiosity.

 Davos's words once again reached their ears, "Just now, Hakurei Sopes's words were very exciting, but they were just too short! It's like when a man and a woman do that thing, and the woman is just starting to get excited and the man ends it, how hard it should be for the woman!"

 The soldiers on the stage did not expect to spit out such vulgar words in the mouth of this still somewhat boyish young man, froze for a moment, and then roared with laughter, "Hahaha ..."

 Many even took the opportunity to make obscene booing noises....

 "This young man is very interesting!" Many soldiers said with a smile and a nod.

 "Nonsense! It's so messed up!" Timasone looked at Kerisopus and cursed.

 Xenophon was also surprised, the Davos he knew was a uniquely insightful and courteous young man who shouldn't be so rude.

 Grissops didn't say anything, he didn't take offense despite the fact that Davos was making fun of him, Grissops who had lived in the barracks until he was thirty was well aware of how the soldiers thought, he didn't know if Davos had made a mistake or if he had meant to do so, in any case the dirty joke had made the soldiers feel affectionate towards the too-young chieftain. It had also given Grissops something to look forward to in his next speech.

 "When I came up just now, I saw all of you hanging your heads, and some of you even had tears in your eyes. You were afraid! Fear that you will not be able to return to Greece! You are afraid! You are afraid that the Persians will destroy you! -But, if you think about it, when we were in the heart of Persia, and our employer, Cyrus the Younger, had been killed, and we didn't know what to do, the Persians, who had twice as many soldiers as we did, didn't come at once to attack us and destroy us! What did they do?" Davos slowly provoked the soldiers with questions.

 "It is clear to everyone here. The Persians expended energy to make peace with us, and fed us richly, and accompanied us on such a long journey ... It took them so much time, money, and effort to trick our chiefs into falling for it and being killed by them!" Davos said slowly, then he paused and asked loudly, "Soldiers, tell me! Who in the world is afraid? In fear? --It is the Persians! They are more afraid than we are! They fear our valor! They dare not fight us head on! They are too cowardly to use these plots quietly! They fear us more than they fear their gods, so much so that they break the oaths they made before them!

 Now they have murdered our chief, and in the midst of our confusion, they dare not attack us at once, and think to make us surrender! What is there for all of us here to fear in the face of such cowardly Persians! Know that we Greeks are a race that fears no threat! -Decades ago, King Darius of Persia led an army that conquered all the races of the land. When he aimed his next conquest at the still weak Greek city-states across the channel, soldiers, tell me, did Greece surrender?!" Davos leaned his body forward, straightened his right hand, and asked the soldiers on the stage in a loud voice.

 "No." One after another, people answered.

 "Too low for me to hear! Please tell me Greece surrendered?!!!" Davos asked with increased volume.

 "No!" This time the answer was neat.

 Davos is still not satisfied, "Sounding like a timid Persian! Again, has Greece surrendered?!!!"

 "N-no!!!" The soldiers yelled, their emotions already beginning to be mobilized.

 "Right! We Greeks didn't give in! At Marathon, the Athenians beat the crap out of the Persian army with fewer men, and Darius rolled back to his lair and died of disease within a few years. His son Xerxes, seeking revenge, gathered an army as large as ever and invaded Greece again. But we Greeks never give in to might!

 Soldiers, tell me, where did we pummel the Persians?!"

 This time there was no need for Davos to lead, and the soldiers spoke up enthusiastically, "Salamis!"

 "Platia!"

 "And Hot Springs Pass!"

 ...

 Davos took over, "Yes, it was the unity of the Greek populace in defeating the Persians once again that made Greece a fertile land of freedom, with peace and prosperity for decades to come. Soldiers, can any of you tell me the names of some of the generals and soldiers who fought in the battles against Persia back then?!"

 "Mitayad!"

 "Aeschylus!"

 "Philippodus!"

 "Leonidas!"

 "Dimistocles!"

 "Aristide!"

 "Pausaniya!"

 ...

 One name after another was shouted out by the soldiers in a scramble, at first the names of the generals, and later the names of the soldiers who fought in the war ... The Greek-Polish War, which was also only about eighty years old, affected almost the whole of the Greek world, and was still fresh in the minds of the mercenaries, and many of the soldiers present were even descended from the men who had taken part in that year's war, and they could not wait to make the names of their ancestors' names proudly publicized, and even the chiefs Zantiparis, Kriano, and Hieronymus could not help but participate in it. The whole atmosphere of the meeting began to boil ...

 Timasong also couldn't help but stare in disbelief, realizing that he had underestimated this young man.

 It was a long time before the shouts from all directions weakened ...

 Davos continued with passion, "These names that come out of your mouths, they were written into history and into your memories by Herodotus! They became the heroes of Greece! Their spirits are as immortal as the gods! We grew up hearing their stories, and as we grew up we followed their example, longing to accomplish amazing feats like theirs! Now - soldiers you have an opportunity, a wonderful chance to become Greek heroes like them and write history!" At this point, Davos paused once again.

 Eager soldiers stood up and asked impatiently, "Tell us! What are the chances?!"

 "Have you not noticed!" Davos exclaimed, "Although our forefathers defeated the Persians, they were either on the Greek mainland or at sea, and no Greek army has ever been able to storm the territory of the Persian Empire. And we have penetrated deep into the Persian hinterland, so as long as we work together to defeat the Persians, overcome all the difficulties, and finally return to Greece in victory, then we will have made history! Our deeds will be written in books and songs and sung all over Greece, and beautiful girls and lovely children will pester us to tell the story of our adventures! And our children and grandchildren will be as proud of us as we are today! And what's more-"

 Davos took a deep breath and said excitedly, "Our deeds will inspire the Greeks in the future! Let them know that the Persians look strong, but are actually weak inside, and that they are nothing more than a giant made of clay. A nation is like a man; there is a time when it is strong and a time when it ages. When the day comes when Persia and Greece are at war again, the Greeks will follow our example and attack Persia along the same route we once traveled. What will they say when they are victorious and come to the battlefield where we once spilled our blood, to sacrifice us and praise us?!"

 The soldiers were mesmerized.