Herald of Steel

When Alexander asked for Lapitus to ready all of Lord Ponticus's secret documents, he did so with great anticipation, especially towards the maps.

Detailed maps of any country were something that was considered an absolute national secret.

This was firstly because it was very costly to produce a map.

Performing proper cartography was an immensely difficult challenge given the lack of technology and the absence of various specific tools yet to be invented.

So to do all that and then have all that hard work stolen was of course not ideal.

But more than that, perhaps it was the strategic value maps had that made them so valuable. 

This might be weird to think now, given not only maps are so readily available that they are a dime a dozen, one can even get real time footage of anywhere on earth any time of the day from anywhere. 

But without such surveillance capabilities, a side possessing the other's map could use hidden and unknown routes to attack them and catch them completely off guard.

So many times full fledged wars occurred simply upon finding one side possessing a map of the other party.

And knowing such, if not for the threat of Alexander being alerted to his misdeeds, Lapitus might have indeed hidden much of the information.

It was among such ruminations that Lapitus finally showed Alexander to the front of the mansion, a huge, three story building with a bright blue domed roof.

All the standing walls were made of pristine white marble, so white in fact that Alexander's eyes hurt a bit upon gazing at it, as much of the glaring summer sunlight was reflected into his eyes.

All around the building lay beautiful plants and flowers, along with decorations of various priceless stone statues of men and animals- horses, lions, bears etc, all of different sizes, while up above the windows had panels made of exquisitely carved wood.

'Darm, the old fart makes my current house looks like a hut,' And seeing the opulence in display, even just from the outside, Alexander could simply feel the extravagance.

Though this self depreciating remark was quite erroneous.

In terms of absolute wealth, Alexander absolutely trumped anyone in Tibias.

Just one year of his earnings would be enough to run Tibias's budget for the next decade.

And his house was once just as luxurious as this, if not more.

But it no longer existed courtesy of this house's owner's nephew- Perseus.

So in Alexander's mind, it was only just that he compensated himself with this.

Lapitus gently gestured Alexander to enter the abode, its doors lined with several very beautiful maids wearing expensive chemises of red, blue, and yellow.

As Alexander entered, they all bowed, though Alexander could not help but feel their movements were a bit stiff, like they were not used to this.

And the reason for this was because they were not technically maids.

All of them were courtesans dressed up as such to play this role, with there being also those two women who had served Petrino, then three of Lapitus's associates.

And the reason for this arrangement was because after Lapitus's bloodbath in the mansion, many of the maids had died, either directly or due to the horrible injuries they suffered after being violated so many times.

And the only ones lucky to be alive were, for better or worse, those that were not that beautiful to begin with, making many of the hungry men leave them alone for juicer prey.

So to impress Alexander, Lapitus made this arrangement. 

But Alexander did not know any of these and simply assumed they acted so because they were afraid of him.

After all he did conquer them.

So putting this slight distraction aside, he focused his eyes on the interior.

And he was not disappointed by the extravagance.

Immediately upon entering, he was greeted by a vestibule whose magnificence set the tone for the opulence within. 

The entrance hall's main feature was the magnificent staircase spiraling upward, which was a true testament to Tibian craftsmanship, being adorned with ornate railings, sculpted balusters, and other decorative patterns of flowers, beasts, and other designs,

Following the woolen carpeted floor, Alexander was then shown around the various rooms, the first of which was the dining room.

This was only one of the five available ones, each of various sizes to fit the occasion, and all of them with their own fantastic views, just in case you were tired of looking at the same garden every day.

One overlooked the front courtyard they came in, others looked over the many beautiful gardens each with their own distinct views, and Alexander even noticed one of them overlooking a gigantic man made pool with its own irrigation system to feed and drain it.

Something that caused Alexander to even curse a bit in his heart, 'Mothef**cker. To think he lived in this luxury.' 

None of the mansions Alexander had visited up until now ever had any pools, the culture not seemingly existing.

And that was something Alexander always missed.

So now seeing it for himself, Alexander was both pleased and a bit salty that he did not get it sooner.

Dispersed among the various dining rooms were many sitting rooms, all furnished with expensive furniture of the highest quality and exquisite artwork- be it in the form of realistic portraits, fantastic pottery, or walls adorned with frescos.

Then Lapitus took them upstairs, where existed around fifty bedrooms, all lavishly decorated, the most opulent ones of course being Lord Ponticus and Petrino's abode.

And as Alexander laid his eye on these rooms what he was most surprised by was the cleanliness of the place.

Because it had to be remembered, a bloodbath had occurred here just three days ago.

And though unclear on the details, Alexander knew Lapitus surely had killed a lot of the Lord Ponticus's family members here, be it his relatives like nephews, their wives, or other distant kin who were his retainers or related to them. 

Furthermore, he was also surprised that all the expensive things mostly remained, for after the killing, a few thousand men, women, and children had taken refuge here.

So not to mention expecting the place to be dirty, filthy, and smelling of blood, Alexander half expected the place to be stripped of everything that was not nailed down.

But as if sensing his surprise, along the tour, between conversations, Lapitus let Alexander know,

"We are very grateful that Lord Pasha decided to spare our family. So we were very strict in making sure nobody took anything that did not belong to them."

"And all the women staying here worked for the last three days cleaning everything up. I hope my lord will forgive any small foibles."

That move was mainly Lapitus's own idea, as a way to curry favor with his boss, and he really did try and stop anyone from stealing.

Though of course, his efforts had their limits- many small items like gold plates, cups, utensils, pottery, food, dresses, jewelry, money, etc. were indeed swindled and taken.

But at least he stopped the mansion from being robbed blind. 

The furniture, large pottery, art, chandeliers, and expensive carpets were all mostly saved.

Finished showing the bedroom, Lapitus then took Alexander to the right of the second floor, where the entire wing was one huge housing, according to him, a staggering five thousand books!

Stacks and stacks of shelves adorned the walls, all packed to the brim with parchment and papyrus, and in between each shelf was placed expensive decorations, be it beautiful terracotta pottery, various statues of all kinds, and even golden armor.

If Lapitus's claim about the library was true, then just the value of this room alone would be in the tens of millions, perhaps more than the house itself.

The room was huge and more importantly very spacious with numerous huge windows letting in copious amounts of the summer sunlight, brightening the entire place up.

There were many short tables and chairs scattered around the room, each next to a window or veranda, and the whole palace smelled of papyrus 

And if evn this was not enough to get you to sit down and have a flip of the books, then the scenery it overlooked was sure to.

For overlooking it on one side was another huge artificial pool, next to which Alexander could see a temple, no doubt for personal use by the mansion's inhabitants.

Lush green trees surrounded it, and its waters were a mixture of turquoise and blue, courtesy of the reflection of the trees and sky. 

But undoubtedly, it was the other side that provided a much more magnificent view, for from standing in his library, Alexander could clearly see the magnificent River Diannu, its pristine waters shimmering in the golden sunlight as the currents flowed downhill, from right to left.

The river was currently devoid of any traffic, which was natural. but Alexander dreamed of a day when it would be filled with colorful sails of boats and ships, red, blue, orange, and yellow, all coming to trade. 

To read a book while looking at such a view, sipping a cup of hot coffee on a brilliant winter morning, with a clear sky and rolling white clouds.

If Alexander was asked to define what was peace, he would describe that exact scene.

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Gardens:

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