I Became a Slave to a Mythical Shepherd

Episode 93. Age of Heroes (2)

Paris swept along the plains north of Troy, along the Simoes River, and cut dozens of warriors.

They were the ones who lived facing the Black Sea and gained strength by receiving the blessings of Ares and Artemis.

They were skilled warriors who climbed over the walls of countless cities and cut the throats of countless men and women. They advanced, drinking blood like water.

And their progress halted before Bucephalus’s run.

After dozens died, hundreds retreated in confusion during the plunder, and in the gap, the Trojan infantry equipped with superior weaponry drove the enemy away.

If that condition had continued, Troy would have seized a complete victory…

Penthesilea has arrived.

She approached on top of a chariot, causing bloody winds, and at once subdued the commanders of the Trojan 2nd Army and stopped the advance of the Trojan soldiers.

Many Amazon warriors managed to break through the paralyzed encirclement of the Trojan 2nd Army and return to the fleet to collect their loot, until Hector came again and stopped Penthesilea.

Anyway, as a result, Troia won.

The fact that Priam ordered the two princes to go out with about 1,000 soldiers did not mean that they should completely drive out the enemies.

It can be said that Troia showed its strength just by defeating the Amazon before the end of the day and minimizing damage.

There were three variables in this defensive battle between 1,000 and 2,000 people.

Paris.

Hector.

Penthesilea.

– Slurr.

“Paris, what are you doing? Arrange the chess pieces on the table like that.”

“I was thinking about it.”

-widely.

In response to Hector’s question, I moved a wooden horse representing Penthesilea to the model of the ship and said,

Numerous chess pieces move on the simplified map of the vicinity of Troia, killing and biting each other. Trams pass over the blue stems that symbolize the Simoace River. It’s a simple war game.

I heard from Priam and Hector that this battle ended with much less damage than before.

-widely.

But what if Hector’s chariot was being pulled by horses the size of ordinary ponies?

– Seruk.

So, what if Hector had been delayed in defeating the Amazons’ tank forces and joining us?

-widely.

What if Penthesilea had meanwhile taken me and the other warriors prisoner and successfully retreated with the infantry?

Both the damage we took and the gains our enemies took would have increased very, very greatly.

Of course, the direction of winning and losing would also have been reversed.

. . .

The tactics I had in mind, the weapons I had prepared so far…

Hector looks out at the table with interest, probably realizing that the board I’ve played roughly embodies the previous battle. I carefully asked such Hector.

“Is that how you used to be?”

“What do you mean?”

“No, were you just that strong? It reminds me of the last time you fought Penthesilea on an equal footing.”

“It wasn’t equal. If Odysseus-sama hadn’t intervened at the right time, I would have been able to show my gaps due to my lack of actual combat experience.”

“More than that, something like physical strength or stamina.”

“···ah.”

Hector looked at his limbs at my words and tilted his head. There doesn’t seem to be much difference in thickness, but how the hell does that power come out of there?

“Is it okay if I say that I am loved by the gods?”

“Is that enough?”

“Wouldn’t it be fine if we offered sacrifices every time, honored the gods, and continued to speak and act to please the gods? For we are also distant descendants of the gods.”

I can’t.

I just shook my head when they said that if I prepared and reviewed thoroughly, I could go to Seoul National University.

Still, there is a point in Hector’s words.

Humans who inherit the blood of the gods, attract the attention of the gods, or just get lucky.

Such humans enjoy power over other humans. It’s quite absurd, but in a world where gods exist, what else can you argue about?

As I stare at the table in silence, I hear Hector’s voice from the side.

“It sounds like a big shock. It was my first time fighting a demigod.”

“It made no sense. Was I beaten by a human arm or stepped on by an elephant…”

Without thinking, I spat out a chin, and then looked back at Hector, wondering what I had said.

Hector just let out a small laugh. Hector said softly after biting the attendants who were carrying chess pieces around me.

“So how did you feel?”

“Do you want to beat that one day?”

“···oh.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I have no intention of winning by developing my own strength.”

I remember the time when Penthesilea overwhelmed me.

I thought until the end whether to use the hammer Hephaestus gave me, but… Hector came in the middle of my thoughts anyway, and she had no intention of killing me either.

After all, Penthesilea is someone who will one day become my ally.

Amazon’s warriors are allies who may fight alongside Troia.

There was no need to attack the leader of the Amazons with God’s help.

However, we should prepare a countermeasure against the heroes.

“How on earth do you fight against monsters like that in Troia?”

“Didn’t the country collapse once because we couldn’t fight back?”

“uh···.”

“It is a joke. Could it be that there is no such contrast?”

Hector laughed and moved the model of the Amazonian ship away from the table. in the eastern direction from which they retreated.

“Haven’t you seen Theo since you were little too? We have dozens of soldiers like that.”

Theo.

Come to think of it, if Theo hadn’t stopped the javelin that was flying at me, I might have been pierced right through my body by the javelin.

It also reminds me of the first time we killed a man in Anoitus’ mansion. Although they were untrained men with little clubs, Theo cut through dozens of them without tiring.

Of course, what if there are soldiers who are not as powerful as the demigod, but are excellently trained and have superior physical strength and dragon power compared to ordinary people?

Surely it can be of great help.

Then there is one more question I must ask Hector.

“Then where did you get those soldiers?”

At my words, Hector opens his mouth, widening his eyes as if to say something.

“Then, what did you think we were doing for hunting or javelin competitions?”

···ah.

I finally realized what I was going to do.

***

Of course, I still had a lot of dirty work left to do.

Once the battle was won, he and Priam and Hector held rites to Ares and Athena, respectively, and held a festival to commemorate the grace given by each god. (This “separate” is particularly important, as the two gods are on very, very bad terms.)

Next, I had to calm the public sentiment while helping the starving refugees along with the landlords and nobles in the vicinity.

It was also essential to see off the newlyweds Odysseus and Penelope, who were fortunately unharmed, with thanks.

It seems that they saw all sorts of insults on their honeymoon, but the two of them left happily, as if they were satisfied with building a kite with Troia.

.

In any case, the military had to be weighed and the spoils had to be distributed.

I didn’t invade, but I was invaded, so I’d like to know what kind of spoils it was, but the things I got from this battle were quite a lot more than I thought.

First of all, as metal is precious, each enemy’s armaments such as armor and shields were valuable assets. It is also the mark of an honorable victory.

It’s not that there are dozens of generals who go to the nether road after picking up the armor of the dead in the Ilias for no reason, and it’s not that Ajax was holding a grudge and trying to team kill when Odysseus obtained the armor of Achilles.

In addition, the captured soldiers immediately became valuable slaves (of course, common people only. The heirs who could pay the ransom were already released after paying a huge amount of gold), and the chariots the enemies rode and the horses that pulled them were also distributed.

“Paris, you will be given 30 slaves and 5 generals’ armor. Are you okay?”

“Yes, father. That’s good enough. but···”

“but?”

“I will yield the armor to others. Instead, I would like to receive a corresponding horse and chariot.”

“It’s a horse and a chariot… Yes, I’ll find someone who wants the armor instead.”

“thank you.”

Well, it shouldn’t be that hard to find. Originally, ‘Gao’ is as important as the actual use of loot.

Chariots and horses, of course, would be cool if you rode them saying, “This is what I stole from a fight,” but it’s an ambiguous thing to hang on a mansion and show off from generation to generation.

Compared to that, armor, if you have a good physique, you can wear it yourself, hang it in your mansion, and show off from generation to generation saying “This is my father…”, “My grandfather…”, “My great-grandfather…” perfect to do

I am? Because there are many better things than those pieces of bronze.

Thinking about that, I walked down the corridors of the court with Priam.

In fact, the palace of this era may seem quite shabby to Koreans who are accustomed to Gyeongbokgung Palace or Changdeokgung Palace. At best, it’s like a rather large mansion.

However, Gyeongbokgung is the royal palace of a centralized despotic state that ruled over 20 million people, and it is also a comprehensive government building. It is not comparable to a city-state with a population of tens of thousands.

Even if it looks quite crude and small, this court has everything you need.

for example···

“Open.”

or an arsenal.

At Priam’s words, the soldiers quietly unlock the lock and push the heavy door open.

Dozens of bronze armor, hundreds of leather armor, hundreds of spears, and thousands of arrows are sleeping inside.

Weapons that can arm 500 to 600 men.

These are sold or lent to citizens, and those voluntarily armed are added to form Troy’s military power.

I knock on the leather armor once.

There is a thump. The leather hardened with oil bounces off my hand.

“Why did you ask to see this place?”

“I think the armor needs to be improved a bit.”

Among royals and nobles, not many wore steel armor.

At most, me and the other princes, plus the gifts I gave to Theo, who came to Antandros because he was my escort.

But will that be it?

The javelin thrown from close range by Penthesilea with all her might pierced Theo’s relatively weak shoulder part of his breastplate.

The tankers of this era will face the heroes, fight back… no, cancel. Even if you can’t fight back, they are people who need to lead you for some time.

At least he had to carry at least a steel armor and a steel shield so he wouldn’t collapse in vain.

Iron armaments should be supplied.

To do that, the current level of productivity is not enough.

After looking at the arsenal of the royal palace, an estimate is pulled out.

What and where to improve.

I turned to Priam and said.

“Can I go back to Antandros for a moment?”

***

“So… the purpose of returning to Antandros after a long time…”

Called to the monarch’s palace, Skleos looked at the picture I drew and stroked my beard.

“You mean ‘that’?”

“yes.”

“Can you explain what it is? It looks similar to the Hittite armor, but it’s different.”

“So… it’s an armor made by weaving things like those scales together. Of course, it could be pierced by a javelin or something like that, so it would go to the goal.

Other than that, it’s good to absorb shock, and from the opponent’s point of view, it’s hard to hit properly because the armor is shaking.”

“Is it slipping?”

“yes.”

“Are you going to wear it?”

“Absolutely not. I want to live a long time.”

In a world where people like Penthesilea shoot javelins like railguns, would someone like me wear something like that? As a commander, who will be the heroes’ first priority?

Are you telling me to watch Paris and become a par/less? Is it a new method of suicide in ancient Asia Minor?

“Then may I ask what you intend to do?”

“Oh, I will mass-produce that cheaply and distribute it to moderately wealthy citizens.”

I’ve thought of War of this Age like SxCraft, but in reality it’s more like Rex of Legends.

The heroes decide the decisive aspect of this fight, and the hundreds of soldiers around them assist the heroes and take on the role of solidifying the general trend of the fight.

Then there is nothing else to ask of those hundreds of soldiers.

To withstand those living natural disasters.

To hold them for even a moment longer.

You need to focus your expensive armaments on your heroes, and raise the average power level of others so that they somehow become a meaningful hindrance to your heroes.

So that dozens of people do not fall helplessly with a single knife cut.

“Hmm… so what would you like to call that object?”

“Isn’t it made by layering many pieces of iron that look like scales?”

I pretended to be worried for a while, then opened my mouth. After all, the name is fixed. Descendants hundreds of thousands of years later have already decided.

“It’s called the 札鉀.”

Should I dedicate this ‘invention’ to Ares?