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Avinoges lovingly touched his son’s head, and there was a bit of reluctance in his eyes. A moment later, he expressed his thanks to Davos.

After that, the relationship between the two sides became much closer and the banquet became lively.

After several glasses of wine, Avinoges exclaimed, “Lord Davos, we, Laos, are ready to be like the Union and would like to also implement the system of archon for life. Do you think that it is okay?”

The statesmen were slightly surprised, but Davos looked calm and said with a smile, “It is very clear in our agreement that the Union will not interfere in the internal affairs of any allied city-states. We only need the allies to advance and retreat together militarily, and maintain unity in diplomacy and strengthen economic exchanges….”

Avinoges was happy in his heart and listened to what Davos is saying, “But-” Avinoges suddenly began to be nervous again.

“I have some small suggestions for Laos, I hope you can always ensure its stability. Otherwise, when there is a riot and you can’t solve it, we will have to send troops to help you restore the order of Laos. Sending troops to fight is hard work that costs money and effort, right?” Said Davos half jokingly, then the statesmen echoed.

Avinoges was relieved. In fact, he didn’t want to be an archon for life, and Laos was not used to the Greek system, but they only wanted to keep the Theonia Union from thinking that Laos is just a city of the indigenuous, so he choose to be the archon for life, because he thinks that this position is very similar to the great chieftain. So at this moment, he happily said, “I feel very honored to be an ally of the Theonia Union! I can assure Lord Davos and the statesmen that I, Avinoges, will do my best to ensure the stability of Laos and will always be the best ally of the Theonia Union!”

“Good!!!” The crowd applauded.

“I’d like to perform a dance for the esteemed Lord Davos and all the lords to express my most sincere gratitude!” Amidst the cheering, Avinoges was also excited. He took a sip of the wine in his glass, strode to the center of the hall, and began to shake his shoulders, he then turned around and sing aloud,

“The high mountains,

Where Asinu resides,

At the foot of the mountain is where we graze the cattle and sheep,

Beautiful young girls flash in the mountains and forest,

Their happy figures are like leaping deer,

That has caught my attention.

….”

Vespa and Bagul began to sing along. Although Davos and the other statesmen could not understand what they were singing, they all beat and hummed the tune softly….

Avinoges has endured humiliation, and had been cautious for decades. He was swept away in the heroic singing and vigorous dancing, leaving nothing but happiness in his heart, which he could not express.

When he took his seat, applause rang out ceaselessly.

Scambras stood up with a flushed face, belched and said. “Er….the guest from Laos has performed a dance…erm…our Union should also respond to it. So I will sing you the hymn of Zeus….”

“Great! Great!!….”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

A few days ago, Cincinnag was ecstatic, because he had defeated Lusau, the son of Akpir, and occupied the city of Grumentum. With two big cities, he could become the new overlord of Lucania.

But then, a series of events made him realize that it was not easy to replace Akpir.

Because he was reluctant to allocate most of the property of the tribe of Akpir to the tribes that betrayed Lusau, and he is even more reluctant to divide most of the land owned by the tribe of Akpir to the tribes in Grumentum. On the other hand, he is a miser, while on the other, the tribes of the city of Pyxous who had followed him also needed to be rewarded. Of course, he can tell who is close to whom.

His breach of the agreement naturally aroused the anger of the tribes in Grumentum, who had united to occupy the northern part of the city, and refused to allow the subordinates of Cincinnag to enter the area under their control without permission, and threatened to drive Cincinnag out of Grumentum.

Cincinnag was furious, because he had already regarded himself as the master of Pyxous and Grumentum. How could he allow anyone to damage his majesty. So at his command, the Pyxous fought several small battles with the Grumentum tribes in the city. At the same time, he again tried to use a scheme to try to break up the tribes that had united against him by bribing, but he failed, because none of the chieftains of Grumentum were willing to believe his promise again.

Cincinnag racks his brains on how to clean up the Grumentum tribe that betrayed him, when the worst news has come: Nerulum has been captured!

He immediately asked the Lucanian herders who had fled to Grumentum and heard them say, “We saw countless Greek soldiers enter the city of Nerulum.” He could hardly believe this fact: Nerulum was taken over by the Greeks!

‘How could this be possible?!’ Since more than a hundred years ago, the Lucanians have been occupying the land of other races since the time they moved southward from the central Apennine Peninsula, and have no records of having their large cities be occupied by other races! With suspicion, Cincinnag sent out some scouts to check it.

Although the north of the city of Nerulum is heavily guarded, the Lucanians are a race that mainly graze and hunts, so their scouts manage to sneak into the mountains within the control of Nerulum and got accurate information from the Nerulum folks that have went up the mountain to graze: Nerulum is being currently ruled by the Theonia City-State Union, which was ruled by Davos, a Greek, who had defeated the Lucanian alliance.

Hearing these, Cincinnag was in a state of panic. His first thought was to run back to Pyxous, which is far away from the Greeks who had defeated the mighty Akpir!

Then, he wanted to reach a compromise with the tribes of Grumentum to deal with the possible attack of the Greeks. However, the disadvantaged tribes of Grumentum believed that this was a great opportunity to force Cincinnag to give in and make the Pyxousian withdraw from the city of Grumentum….and so on. But this is unacceptable to Cincinnag.

Cincinnag, with powerful enemies outside and troubles on the inside, was unwilling to give up the city of Grumentum, which he had spent countless efforts and sacrifices. After agonizing for several days, he finally decided: At the risk of losing Pyxous, he will once again draw more warriors from the city of Pyxous to Grumentum. First, they will work together to bring down these hostile tribes, and thoroughly master this central city of the Lucanians.

Just as he was about to send a herald to Pyxous and give the order of dispatch to Gennat, who was guarding the city of Pyxous, the guard came in and reported, ‘A Lucanian, who claimed to be the envoy of Nerulum, had come asked to see the great chieftain.’

Cincinnag was so surprised that he hesitated for a moment, but he still decided to meet him.

When Hemon was brought into the Great Hall of Grumentum, he kept looking around: At the entrance of the hall stood two rows of fierce warriors, and Cincinnag sat high on the central part of the hall. Sitting on both sides were the chieftains of the tribes of Pyxous….

Looking at this majestic hall, Hemon recalls the rumors that he had long heard that says that Akpir wants to be the king of the Lucanians. At least from the hall of this unusual chieftain, he may have such a plan, but it’s a pity….

Hemon was lost in thought, when he heard Cincinnag spoke, “I didn’t expect that you would be the envoy of Nerulum! I heard that your city has been occupied by the Greeks, but is that true?”

The tribe of Hemon before being annexed by Nerulum was also very influential in the “Fertile land between the mountain ridge”. So he, the tribal chieftain, was also known in the Lucanian region. He greeted Cincinnag respectfully and then said, “Esteemed chieftain Cincinnag, Nerulum is now part of Theonia Union, and under the leadership of Avinoges, Laos has become an ally of Theonia Union-”

“What?! Laos has also surrendered to the Greeks?!!”

“I’ve said it for a long time that those bastards of the Greeks are unreliable!”

“What are we going to do now?! Without Laos, the Greeks can attack us safely!!”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The words of Hemons were like thunder, which made the chieftains who were sitting there in panic. Cincinnag used to like this high seat because it can reflect the dignity of a great chieftain, but at this moment, he hated this seat due to it being too conspicuous that made his fears noticeable. He held the armrest of the seat tightly and looked at Hemon who was standing there with a smile, just like watching a play. This turned Cincinnag’s fear into anger, “Damned Nerulum! You have forgotten the teaching of Asinu and surrendered to our enemies! Do you think my sword is not sharp enough?!”

“You are wrong, chieftain. We didn’t surrender to the Greeks, but have become citizens of Theonia Union! Not only can we still continue worship Asinu, but as long as we have enough money, we can also go to Thurii, and Amendolara….we can also build the temple of Asinu on the lands of Thua Union without interference, we can also continue our bullfighting every autumn in Nerulum, and the custom of bride kidnapping among the Lucanians is not change*….the Lucanians of Nerulum, like me, have volunteered to become citizens of Theonia Union, but, we are still Lucanians, we have more freedom, with more land and more livestock, and we only pay very little tax!” Hemon boasts of the benefits of being a citizen of Theonia Union. (T/N: Is a practice in which a man abducts the woman he wishes to marry.)

The chieftains and the warriors in the hall are in disbelief, “Can the Greeks be so good to us Lucanians?”

“Davos, the archon of Theonia Union, the man who had defeated Akpir, had said, ‘Theonia is not only a union of the Greeks, but also a union of the Lucanians!’ If you don’t believe me, you can ask the chieftain of the Merino tribe, Vespa, and his son. They have become citizens of Theonia Union much earlier, and have now become a statesmen of Theonia! And Theonia Union also intend to continue-”

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