Arslan Senki

Book 4: Chapter 1 (2)

The strength of their army was growing rapidly. So many people were pouring into the fortress of Peshawar, they eventually had to start camping outside the walls in tents.

However, having more soldiers also had its drawbacks. If you had 100,000 soldiers, nine million servings of food would be needed for a month. In addition, the soldiers and horses also needed armor. The army could not help much with production and only consumed goods, so the resources would be stretched thin.

"If only they could have brought as much grain as they did soldiers"

Narsus was formally appointed as the Satryup by Crown Prince Arslan. This was a position given to a lieutenant of the Crown Prince while he was acting in the kings stead. This position was basically that of a vizier, with authority over other courtiers, and was responsible for the royal council. This was a very important position, and official documents were drafted by the Satryup. The diatribe issued by Arslan earlier was also drafted by Narsus.

Narsus quickly and efficiently organized the Crown Prince's office, which was, for now, the provisional government of the kingdom of Pars. He first divided the affairs into civil and military departments, and then divided the civil department into eight more departments, such as accounting and civil engineering, and set up a head in each department. The most important of them was the person who was in charge of the accounting department.

The accountant chosen by Narsus was a man named Patias, a man of about thirty years of age who served as a vice-captain of a large merchant fleet and had previously served as a clerk in charge of accounting in the city of Zara. When Narsus served as court clerk in the past, the documents sent from Zara had suddenly become very high quality, and Narsus found it strange and ordered an investigation into who had produced them. Patias had now escaped from the royal capital and took two months to reach the city of Peshawar, whereupon Narsus immediately entrusted him with such an important task. Patias was not only good at math, but also good at writing, and he was knowledgeable of the current affairs in each place and business well, so he was a rare talent.

One day, Elam, who was helping Narsus with his papers, asked,

"Lord Narses, what will future generations say about what His Highness Arslan has done?"

"That will depend on the outcome."

Narses replied extremely calmly.

"If His Highness Arslan succeeds as a king, perhaps he will be remembered as a generous and trustworthy person. However, if he fails, perhaps he will be criticized as someone who did not listen to the advice of others and insisted on reform, being emotional to the point of misjudgement. No one can tell the future at this time."

"Does it all depend on the future?"

"Being a king is difficult. He will not be remembered by what he wanted to do, but by what he did. In other words, people wont judge him based on what kind of ideals he has, but on what he manages to bring to the real world."

"That's rather harsh"

Elam murmured, and Narsus gathered his hair with one hand.

"Yet, it is only fair, Elam."

If this were not the case, we would have kings who would sacrifice the lives of their people for the sake of their ideals. They would care too much for their ideals and not for the consequences. If you sacrifice too much for the sake of the people, there will still be trouble. And of course, we wont even consider people who only want the throne for their own power and greed.

"This is why I wouldnt want to be a king! I still prefer a happier, more relaxed lifestyle. Leave the hard work to His Majesty Arslan!"

Narsus said with a joking tone and dropped his gaze on the paper again. Elam did not want to disturb Narsus' work, so he quietly left.

Narsus was not the only one who was kept busy. Jaswant, who was serving as a guard, laid a blanket at the door of Arslan's room and slept with his sword. The strength of Arslan's camp had increased rapidly, so there were many unfamiliar faces moving around in Peshawar. Lusitanian assassins could have easily slipped in with the rest.

During the daytime, Farangis often kept watch over Arslan to prevent suspicious people from approaching. However, she still had to return to her room at night. For a while, it was the brave general Daryun who slept with his sword at the door of Arslan's room, but after he became busy managing the influx of new troops, the guard duty was given to Jaswant.

Zaravant, who was not familiar with the layout of Peshawar, went the wrong way when he was going back to his room one night, and almost stepped on Jaswant, who quickly reprimanded him.

To Jaswant, guarding the door was a sign of his loyalty to the Crown Prince and he had no other ill intentions. However, in Zaravant's view, the foreigner was simply taking advantage of his position of authority with the Crown Prince to belittle him as a newcomer. Jaswant's harsh Parsian speech and tone of voice also contributed to the misunderstanding. Zaravant could not help but become angry, stomping his boots on the ground and yelling.

"As a foreigner, you are overstepping your bounds by staying at the side of the Crown Prince. Go back to your own country and raise your cattle!"

In the face of such harsh insults, Jaswant's expression was stiff. Blood shot to his face as he took a step forward.

"Try saying that again! Insolent fellow!"

"How ridiculous! The black dog has actually turned red."

When Parsians insulted Sindhurans, they often called them black dogs.

For Jaswant, Parsian was not his native language. Although he wanted to curse back, he could not remember enough swear words in his rage. He exhaled heavily and snapped back in Sindhuran.

"Loud fool! If I am a black dog, then what are you? That stupid face of yours looks like a donkey that choked to death on its own food!"

Zaravant could not understand Sindhuran, but it was obvious that the other man was not complimenting him, so his anger rose, and was no less than Jaswants. He glared at the young Sindhuran and put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Black dog of Sindhura! I will teach you what it means to be a civilized nation. Draw your sword!"

Just as he finished speaking, his great sword was half drawn from its sheath. Jaswant was not the kind of man who would cower in the face of a challenge. He also drew his sword, and the two men, not caring where they were, were about to fight each other in front of the Crown Prince's chambers.

At this time, Arslan and Elam were in Narsus' room studying the book The Art of War from the Kingdom of Serica, and were not in their chambers, so Arslan had no knowledge of this.

Just as the swords were about to clash, a swoosh sounded through the tense air. This startled Jaswant, and Zaravant jumped back abruptly, and a spear plunged into the ground between the two of them, its long hilt still shaking.

The man who threw the spear silently appeared. The two men, who were about to start arguing again, were immediately silenced.

"Lord Kishward"

Zaravant corrected his posture with restraint. The "Twin Blade General", Kishward, was as much a martial god to Zaravant as he was to Jaswant. Kishward stood before the bloodthirsty duo, and quietly opened his mouth.

"What His Highness the Crown Prince values most is the cooperation and integration of his comrades, and you should both know this. Isnt it what the Lusitanians want for those who follow His Highness to shed blood over meaningless trifles?"

"But, this guy is just too rude!"

Kishward's sharp eyes fell on the faces of the two who condemned each other in the same breath.

"If you have grievances, feel free to take me, Kishward, as your opponent! I can fight one of you with each hand. How about that? Want to try to see if you can take the head of the Twin Blade General?"

    Kishward's words were really self-contradictory, and he himself knew it, but he absolutely did not allow Jaswant and Zaravant to retort, whether it be for pride or reputation. Both men reluctantly put away their swords, apologized for their rudeness and withdrew. Of course, this action was not sincere, and from now on, whenever they crossed paths, they would still turn their heads away from each other, but bloodshed was avoided.