Chapter 518: Though It Isn’t Really War
"Ah don’t worry I bet that the Caesar shall pick a date one day and come back to have a view on the gift that the citizens have prepared for him."
The senator made a shy smile, then changed the topic as he seems to have remembered something. "Oh by the way... I have a friend of mine who joined the honourable army of the Caesar, may I ask about where he is now?"
"Ah sure, I will help you if I know anything about him."
"The name is Fisnik, he used to stick with me fifteen plus years ago when we are still a bunch of young delinquents hanging out in the streets of Avlonya. Then ten years ago after that tragic night of the blood moon, he decided to join the forces of the by then admiral, then he is never to be seen again by any of us, only receiving letters from him boasting about the battles he has won and the honours he has received..."
Helio frowned not knowing how he should put his answers in a proper way, and whether should he tell the man the truth or not. "Fisnik...he... did climb to the position as a regiment commander, commanding the recon forces of around five hundred men, in charge of battlefield surveillance and in camp security..."
"Oh!" The senator seems to be in a mixture of excitement and nervousness. "Then where is he now? Is there any chance of him being in your troops?"
"He..." Helio opened his mouth for multiple times, and finally made up his mind to make a friendly white lie for the sake of his deceased friend. "He has died, with bravery and honour, combating the Ottomans a month ago, sacrificed himself for the interest of others... A good chap, I must say, I enjoyed every minute of me working with him. He has received a bunch of honouree titles, and he is now buried on the hills and mountains of Epirus enjoying peace."
"I see..." The senator said no more, though Helio can still see the sadness in his eyes.
Just as the two men are still here standing by the side and talking to one another, the governor of the city finally arrived at the spot with all the things necessary for a transition of city ceremony including the key to the city gate, the scripts and scrolls recording down the demographics of the city, and the banner and crest of the city. They came here to only realise that the citizens have already opened up the gate under the lead of a senator to welcome the troops in, which is a tremendous breach in security, but the governor could not care more or less in this kind of crucial moment as he dropped the box of key he is holding in his hand, ran forward totally unlike a man in the sixties and grabbed the hand of Helio tightly.
"Please allow me to introduce to you, your righteous. This is our governor, who used to be the bishop of the city, we used to refer him as Bishop Balša. He became our governor following the massacre on the night of the blood moon, which after that the angry citizens, including me, threw our old mayor into the Adriatic. And then our governor took position to lead the rebuilding effort ever for ten years ago."
Helio nodded and grabbed hold of the hands of the old bishop governor too and wanted to bow in respect, but the later seems to be anxious about something as he stopped Helio and urged.
"General! Honourable general, please, save us! Save our city again just like what you did ten years ago! Please! Those Venetians, those Venetians..."
Of course Helio knows about the dilemma the city of Avlonya is facing, but before he came here Apostolos has already given him a piece of advice saying that don’t offer any help by yourself unless when the other side comes to plead you about it, which not only gives you the legitimate reason to intervene in local affairs, and also people will only truly appreciate and thank you for your help when they are being caught in the most desperate and dire situation. So Helio took no initiative even when his scouts have been informing him repeatedly since days ago that there shall be a possible Venetian attack on the city of Avlonya.
"The Venetians... They have just sent an Ultimatum! They mentioned that they shall give us one last chance to think about giving their fleet the right to dock their warships in our harbours, if not they shall break through the sea gates by themselves..."
"I understand, there is nothing to worry about, respected elder." Helio nodded with his hand on his scabbard. "Since the city of Avlonya has handed her key over to the Caesar, that means it now our responsibility to make sure that the city, together with her citizens, stay safe under all circumstances. Unlike the Ottomans, we are here to protect you. Though there is one thing that I need, that is the detailed layout and map of the city including her defence."
The layout map of the city is usually one of the most strategically important things that is usually locked up in the treasury because it labelled down every single detail of the city’s defence that can give anyone who have the idea of attacking the city a much easier time. But the governor agreed to the request of Helio without blinking an eye, and it appears that he has already knew that this commander shall make such a request before he came here, as the governor ushered a steward to come forward, and handed the graph over to Helio.
Helio had a brief look at the graph and as the most experienced commander in terms of defensive warfare in the army, he immediately developed a rough plan in his head as he handed the graph back to the steward showing the governor that he has no idea of taking one of the city’s most important secret away.
"There is no need to worry about the Venetians, respected governor; For everyone knows that they are a bunch of maritime creatures who become hunchbacks relying on nothing but mercenaries when they come on land. Leave them to me... The city definitely has no space for all of my troops, and I do not want the citizens to fell any unease with these armed forces around the streets, so I shall station four thousand men on the two flanks of the city to prevent the Venetians from embarking, and the remaining six hundred men shall remain here with me in the harbour."
"That would be the best." The governor heaved a sigh of relief. "Please, commander, allow me to thank all mighty Caesar and you on behalf of all citizens."
"It is my pleasure, please, your highness." Helio bowed forward slightly showing his courtesy and respect for the latter’s age. "You, me, the citizens, we are all the same now, we are all citizens living under the protection of the Caesar and his banner of the white lion."
The sharp eyed senator behind the governor has already noticed that this army stopped referring themselves as an army of the empire of the Greeks, nor are they flying that flag of the double headed eagle. But frankly speaking none of these squabbles of the Greeks in the east on another sea really concerns him, for the only man he cares about, and trusts is his saviour and idol Antonius.
"Now, please, if I have the chance, is that ambassador of the Venetians still here?"
The governor startled for a moment, and then answered yes after hesitating for a while.
"Gorgeous, then please, do lead the way your highness. I shall have a few ...personal words with him."
The governor finally could no longer hide his main concerns "Please, respected commander, we have been avoiding all wars or conflicts for the past month, because we have absolutely no interest in seeing an epic battle occurring right inside our city like the time ten years ago, I can tell you that we still have not manage to recover our city to the prosperous and populous state she was once back then... So please, respected commander, may God bless us with peace..."
"Have no worries, your highness." Helio grinned. "I am not there to start a war, I will try to talk something out with that man, trust me, if that ambassador, and whoever is the one behind him still have any sane in his mind, he would definitely not attempt to start a land battle with my army over here at this point of time."
"That would be the best." The governor and the people around him sighed a heave of relief.
"Oh and... Your highness, I mean no respect, but in this kind of dire situation, there’s no one, including God, that can bless us with peace and safety... The only power that can protect the city, is our army commanded by me, and the citizens."
