Herald of Steel

"Normally one cannot leave the Grand Temple unless it is a direct command from the king. But the current Head… Grand priest Ollosh took some pity on me." Darrus voice sounded a bit magnetic,

"When the lenders started to come asking for their money, he pulled me to the side and offered to let me leave under two conditions,"

"I have to stay within Adhana, Matrak, or Zanzan, and I was to never contact His Majesty Amenheraft. I of course agreed and left the capital before sun break that very day."

"Initially I thought of traveling to Matrak but it is too north and too cold. There are also constant barbarian invasions from the north and I did not want to be sent to one of those battlefields."

"So Zanzan was the only province left."

"I see. You had it rough," Alexander gave an understanding, albeit unsympathetic nod at the whole story, finding the priest's blind loyalty both impressive and foolish.

But such allegiances were also not that uncommon in these times.

So he moved on, now asking a bit curiously, "But how long was this? How have you been not sold yet? The noble lords visiting the market in the morning should have been like sharks wanting to snatch you!"

Darrus lightly smiled, producing a slightly smug, arrogant look, "Hehe, indeed, I had many offers, my lord. On the way, one Matbar (Marquiss) even offered me thrice the asking amount- 200,000 ropals. But I still rejected him. Because I am a meister. I would never serve any man I did not deem worthy."

"....." Alexander's eyes slightly bulged with incredulation hearing this.

For a slave to determine whether his master was worthy… even for Alexander, who had seen quite a lot, this was an eye opening statement.

But then again, as a meister priest, Darrus perhaps indeed has that right.

So Alexander could not help but curve his lips into a smirk,

"Oh, and how did Matbar (Marquiss) react when a mere slave told him he was worthy? Did he not try to slaughter your tiny slaver 'master' and take you by force?

The slave merchant standing beside Darrus instantly produced a ghastly look because he understood what Alexander really meant by these words.

This was a direct threat from him.

"My lord I…." So the slaver tried to rapidly explain himself.

"You misunderstand me, my lord, I never rejected anyone outright!" But Darrus decided to interject first, feeling it would be better for him to explain.

"First, I would always reveal my full circumstances, which would drive most commoners and even many nobles away."

"Then, for those brave and powerful enough to risk earning the ire of His Majesty, I would then present them with three puzzles. If they could solve it, I would agree to serve them. That is also why my price is so low. I just need it to pay back my debts."

The more Alexander heard this man, the more he felt intrigued by him.

Which slave in the whole world would dare to present his future master with such a task?

Which slave would dare to ask his master to prove himself?

Slaves were considered basically inanimate objects in the eyes of the law, to be bought and sold like cattle.

How would you feel if you went to eat at a 3 Michen's Star restaurant costing a few hundred dollars but you had to answer three difficult questions before you were allowed to even enter.

You would either be furious and swear to never come back.

Or you would be very intrigued, wishing to know just what was about the product that made it so unique.

And Alexander was firmly in the latter category.

The man, whether right or wrong, possessed an inherent superiority complex over the people of this time. He believed he knew almost everything better than anyone.

So Darrus's puzzle proved an especially effective kryptonite as he could not help but want to pit his intelligence against them.

'Let's see what kind of Gordian knot those boffins at the capital can come up with?' Alexander smugly smirked, thinking he got this.

He used to play with a lot of puzzles in his free time.

Hence producing a candid smile, Alexander nodded,

"Hmmm, interesting. I must say you are probably the most interesting sIave on this side of the Central Sea. Well, I am interested in purchasing you. So let me hear your three questions."

"Haha, great! I imagined as much." Darrun happily grinned, as suddenly his entire demeanor changed.

He straightened his back and his voice became firm and scholarly,

"Here is the first puzzle, my lord."

"Imagine there is a rickety bridge connecting two hills. There is an old man, young man, woman, and a child on one side waiting to cross it. They each weigh…. respectively. Someone must always accompany the old man. But the bridge can only hold…. and it will break after…. "

"Find a way everyone can cross the bridge safely."

This was a classic sequence puzzle, where one had to find the most optimal grouping while satisfying all the conditions.

The puzzle was so popular that it had formed many similar offshoots- such as- police and robbers trying to cross a boat in a river, the weight restriction replaced by time, the bridge replaced by an imminent flood, and many more.

Hence, it did not take the practiced Alexander to answer it correctly.

"Good! Good! As expected of my lord. Hehehe, many lords can't even answer this simple puzzle." And Darrus sounded impressed, vigorously nodding his head and smiling.

Although Alexander also clearly detected a hint of mockery when he said the phrase 'many lords', as if he was taunting the people who could not even do this to be in charge of running the country.

Alexander could detect this because he also occasionally had similar thoughts and thus half emphasized with the poor priests.

Darrun lightly swung his plans afterward and happily chimed,

"This was the first question during my meister entrance example. Now for something a bit tricker-

"You are leading your army through a mountain when all of a sudden you are hit by a fierce snowstorm, forcing you to seek shelter. You send scouts looking for any suitable place, and they come back to you with good news and bad news."

"The good news is that they found a magical cave huge enough to shelter the entire army. The bad news is that the entrance is guarded by an impossibly huge giant. Worse he has taken the scout leader, who is also your son captive. You dare not order the army to attack the magical creature in fear for his life and you doubt your soldiers will dare to attack the enormous beast even if you did."

"Luckily for you, this giant is not a brute. He claims himself to be a learned scholar and so he offers you a deal- 'I know you humans need this cave. Say something true and I will let you enter. But I also know you humans treasure kinship. Say something false and I will let your son go. You can only say one sentence. And know that I hate paradoxes'."

"So here is why question to you my lord- What single sentence can you say to save both your army and your son?"

"....." This was a hard one- and it made everyone put on a ruminative face.

Alexander's eyes visibly dimmed down in thought, while his bodyguards and Cyrus began to shoot each other furtive looks as if to gauge whether anyone had the answer.

After all, Darrus never barred discussing it among themselves.

So the hope was if they could somehow come out with the answer before Alexander… well they would certainly be able to leave a lasting impression on the powerful lord.

Unfortunately, none of them really knew where to begin with the statement.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

What could they say to the giant?

There were literally billions if not trillions possible things to say.

So after about five minutes of getting nowhere, various murmurings began to filter into Alexander's ears,

"Did you think of anything? I got nothing!"

"Hmmm, I was thinking shouting like- 'Let us pass in the name of the king'!"

"Oh! Threatening the giant! You think that will work?"

"It might! It might! The giant should also be the king's subject. He must obey!"

"That... make sense! Then… should we tell the lord? Maybe we will get a good bonus."

"There is no harm in trying. Let's…."

"You fools! Shut your trap! This is a puzzle! Not real life!"

"Right! Say this, and you idiots will be lucky if the lord doesn't cut your pay. Stop trying to embarrass us!"

"Bu.. but then what could it be? How can anyone answer this?"

"I agree! Is this even a question? Bah! Sounds more like an excuse! What if this is just a trick!"

"Hmm, now that you say it… it is possible. This way the priest can leech off the slave master for life."

"Yes! Just look at the two. You will find it hard to guess who is the master and who is the slave. Perhaps the two reached a deal."

"... he will teach his kids and the merchant won't sell him. This way he can have everything- power, respect, food, and shelter without alerting His Majesty!"

"Genius!"

Let us say no to piracy! Don't take part in a crime! Don't patronize thieves!

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