Herald of Steel

Chapter 32 Spiraling Nestoras

Alexander was no great orator and his speech just now wasn't particularly articulate or special.

But it played to the soldiers' hearts.

It plucked at the strings of their desire to rest and eat.

Because they have been awake for more than thirty-six hours, were on a forced march, and had little to nothing to eat.

Then they had to fight a battle in the sweltering heat, get doused in freezing rainwater, and then run through mud and grime to escape the enemy.

Even for these hardy folks, it was a miracle they could stand, let alone again fight.

So it's little wonder that they were eager to return to their camps to rest.

"Boy, you said the gods spoke to you. So who was that sage you kept mentioning?" A deep booming voice cut through the roaring crowd, putting a damper on the celebrations.

It was Nestoras and his face seemed like someone had just painted it black.

"Obviously he said it because until recently we would not have believed him. It might have even a commandment from the gods." Even before Alexander could answer, Theocles offered an explanation.

Alexander again looked at the man with a profound gaze, and thought, 'What has Theocles been eaten today?' and 'When did we become so close?'

But regardless of past happenings, today and now he seemed to be squarely in team Alexander and he wouldn't push him away until he showed signs of otherwise.

That being said, Alexander was reluctant to be called a god, at least for now.

So, although grateful for Theocles stepping in, he decided to clarify the matter.

"Ahem, you misunderstand Nestoras. I never claimed to hear the gods. "He pronounced shaking his head. "I only said that Ramuh has struck us twice and we should respect the gods and not attack again."

"That's the same thing."Nestoras flared illogically.

But Alexander decided to ignore the mad idiot and decided to address the crowd again, "Brothers, hear me. I, Alexander do not claim to be God's favored. I only spread the rumor because we are too tired and don't have the strength to attack now." He stated in as clear a term as possible.

Of course, Alexander confessing to spreading the rumor that caused a small 'mutiny' was no joke.

Samaras would be well within his authority to severely punish him.

But since Theocles had already let the cat out of the bag, there was little use denying it.

And if what he said did become true, he could reap immense rewards.

And what if he was wrong?

Well, there's nothing called a perfect play.

You can only play the odds.

Alexander believed in his own judgment and deemed the attack highly unlikely to succeed and thus decided to roll the dice and confess.

In this way, if he was proven true, people could quote the first part of his speech as him receiving divine guidance, while the people could quote his second part to say he is mortal.

But why would some people consider him divine even after he clearly said he wasn't?

Because sometimes people believed what they wanted to believe.

Because at times of strife and danger, many people sought out god.

Because knowing or being close to someone close to god and drawing associations with them was an irresistible temptation to many, even if that person explicitly denied it.

In Alexander's previous life, there were scores of such examples.

The fourth Caliph of Islam- Ali is considered to be Allah by a minor sect of Islam, even when he in crystal clear terms told everyone he was not.

Buddha is considered to be God by a sect of Buddhism, even when Gautama claimed to be only human and he himself was unsure about the concept of God.

In India, many people who have not claimed to be god is worshipped like one by some people, from politicians to movie stars to cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar.

The list could go on.

(Author Disclaimer: The above examples are not in no way a generalization. I did not, nor do I intend to say all the above groups follow the given example. I said only a small/minor number of people claim to do it.)

"Rest this and tired that. You fu*king pansy. Why don't you just say that after losing one battle you lost your marbles, you stupid coward. Seeing Alexander slip his trap, Nestoras started to unrestrainedly curse at him.

"Soldiers! When did a slave become your leader?" He tried to foment the crowd.

"He will be treated as a squad captain when we are at war! It was you who promised him that, remember?" From the back, Menes spoke out.

"I promised him, I can take it back." The irrational leader exploded.

Not wanting to rely on Menes, Alexander decided to take a shot himself, "Heh, you mean the coward that ran through a barrage of spears to slay the enemy captain and stabilize the phalanx while the "brave" leader left his command to go see his son and killed thirty-three of our brothers? That coward? "

Alexander returned the favor with venom coated in sarcasm.

"*Crunch*" Nestoras simply silently clenched his teeth.

In fact he clenched it so hard that he shattered it, producing an audible crunch.

If Nestoras was still in of good, sound mind, he would not have attacked Alexander the same way he did just some time ago and got figuratively thrashed.

But he did do that.

And this little phenomenon didn't escape the six main people there and they began to finally understood just how far gone Nestoras was.

But these people were not Nestoras's only worries.

Because Alexander's little rebuttal also generated a lot of murmur among all the soldiers, who deferred to their mates in the first phalanx to verify Alexander's claims.

Within this tight, small, thousand group, the soldiers considered each other brothers, and when they learned of the veracity of Alexander's words, many were saddened and outraged that thirty-three of their good brothers were sacrificed in such a callous manner.

The trust the group following Nestoras had in him diminished even further as they began to openly criticize him.

Seeing the soldiers get unruly, Aristotle decided to quickly throw his protegee a lifeline.

"Calm down," he roared, "What are you? Some civilians?"

This old roar calmed the restless waves as the soldiers silently turned to look at the tall, old man.

Seeing he got the crowd's attention, Aristotle said, "In life, there's always ups and downs, highs and lows. Nestoras is currently at his low. He has just lost his only heir but the gods won't give him even the time to grieve. He is cold, tired, and hungry just like all of you but he has no time for such luxuries. Because it's upto him to find an escape from this treacherous place. It's in his hands that resides the fate of more than a thousand souls. Anyone in his place, anyone placed under such a burden would surely have faltered long before him. So please try to understand his position."

Aristotle appealed to the crowd to not get angry with Nestoras but to try and empathize with him.

And it mostly worked. Many angry scowls turned into piteous and understanding looks.

Then he tried to chisel away the last bit of dissatisfaction, as the old man declared, "Yes, I admit Nestoras has made some mistakes. But to err is human. Name one among us who hasn't made a mistake. But we should always try to rectify our mistakes. And so I now announce that all families of the thirty-three killed soldiers will be given a year's wage of payment as compensation."

This drew a large cheer as such a huge bereavement payment had never been paid in this small mercenary group before.

Theocles even staggered a bit back in shock, thinking, 'How the hell are we gonna afford it?'

Usually, almost all mercenaries sent some of their money to their families, mostly through trusted merchants or friends. who looked forward to the coin their brother, father, or husband would send them to maintain their livelihood.

And if one died, all his possessions would be returned to their family, along with an extra month's pay.

Hence, Aristotle's promise of a twelve times greater compensation to make up for Nestoras's mistake was enough to convince most soldiers to forgive him.

Credit where credit is due, Aristotle really knew what to say and how to placate a crowd.

In one swift motion, he stopped the angry tide from swallowing Nestoras.

Fearsome!

After all, he had been in this business for close to forty years and this was not the first time someone blundered on his watch.

Seeing the crowd cool down, he gently offered Nestoras an exit ramp, "I believe we are all too tired to attack today. Let's do it tomorrow."

But instead of taking it, fortunately for Alexander, Nestoras crassly broke out "You can attack by yourself tomorrow old fart. We are attacking today," absolutely rejecting Aristotle and also smashing the goodwill he had just managed to create for him.

Nestoras, due to recent events was tired, grieving, and very cranky.

He was extremely agitated and would argue with anyone that disagreed with him, regardless of if it made sense or not.

Hence he even insulted Aristotle openly, something he never dared to do.

But Aristotle on the surface did not seem at all fazed by this.

He instead decided to ignore the ramblings of the raving lunatic, judging him to be a lost cause and chose to target his other half, Xanthine.