Chapter 203 Preparations before Return

"Andrew, what's going on? Why are you in such a hurry? Is it that Izvestia is unwilling to accept defeat and comes again? Or is it that the legion has been sufficiently replenished and we are going to take Nisibis?" Luca saw that this guy looked tired, but came and went in such a hurry, and guessed that there would be major developments in the near future, so he asked this.

"Hey, don't mention it!" Andrew smiled bitterly and waved at Luca. He was panting heavily, and it seemed that he had run a lot on the way. He didn't say anything, but picked up the wine glass on the table and drank the wine in it. It was like welcoming the long-lost nectar in the hot summer, which immediately made Andrew feel cool. He closed his eyes and slowly savored the aroma of the wine in his mouth. His nature of loving wine was expressed vividly at this moment. A glass of wine dissipated Andrew's fatigue, making him feel like he had regained vitality in an instant, and even spoke more fluently. "Don't think too much about Nisibis. This battle caused the First Constantine Legion to lose nearly half of its troops. Of course, you saw it in the wounded camp. During this period, we lost more than a thousand people. Together with those who survived by chance but were already disabled, we only have a little more than 10,000."

"What do you mean?" Luca was very confused after hearing Andrew's words, "Could it be that a city as big as Edessa cannot even provide basic manpower and must be replenished?"

"No, that's not the case, Luca." Andrew sighed, then picked up the wine jug and filled a glass of wine. This time he was not in a hurry to drink it all up, but took a sip of it to his lips, carefully tasting the wine in the glass. This is what a civilized person would do. "Now Augustus's thoughts are always very jumpy, yes, it's hard to figure out, you know."

"Oh, Andrew, you didn't like to procrastinate like this before. Tell me, what's going on!" Luga had obviously lost his patience. He felt that Andrew had enough time to rest, and it was not like Andrew's style to delay explaining the reason. However, this week's work had made this straightforward man not so straightforward.

"Okay, Luca." Andrew was still unhurried. He carefully placed the wine glass on the table, as if he was afraid that the iron wine glass would be broken. "Augustus has decided to withdraw his troops."

"What?"

Luca was shocked. Really, Theodosius II's move really shocked Luca and made him furious. That was a city, how could he just give it up?

"Did he tell you why he did this?" Luga lowered his voice and questioned Andrew.

"It seems like he was praying for the soldiers who died in this war. I think the key is his old friend Marcus." Andrew said, and he sighed to Luca and explained to Luca: "Maybe Augustus is a man who values ​​friendship. He has been dealing with the nobles in the city during this period. At this time, stabilizing the hearts of the nobles and gaining their support is the most important thing at the moment. But now it seems that the situation has been initially stabilized, and the nobles' belief in supporting the empire has not changed. So Augustus is leaving. It is said that he also wants to make up for a mistake his father once made."

"The mistake made by his father?" Luca didn't know what this meant. All he could be sure of was that he had given up hope of retaking Nisibis from the Sassanid Empire. He couldn't say anything about this. Nisibis was very important to Luca, but in the eyes of Theodosius II, it was just an insignificant city in the Roman Empire.

Since Augustus still has his own things to do, as a subject, Luca cannot stop him in any way.

"Then it must be Augustus' idea that you come here to visit me!" Luca asked Andrew. "Otherwise, you are so busy that you naturally can't spare time to talk to me."

Andrew nodded to Luca's words and added, "Augustus is very concerned about your injury, so let me take some time to come and see you, ask how your injury is recovering, and inform you that we should set off."

"Back to Constantine?"

"Yes, back to Constantine."

Andrew said, and then he stood up and walked out of the tent. At the entrance of the tent, he called out to Luca: "Come out, Luca, and see what I brought you."

Seeing Andrew's mysterious expression, Luca walked out of the tent doubtfully, but he saw a waiter with a large wooden box next to his legs, which seemed to contain a lot of good things.

"What is this?" Luca pointed at the box and asked Andrew.

"Ha, it's just a small gift, Luka." Andrew laughed, then walked over to open the wooden box and took out a complete set of armor. Andrew showed me the armor and explained to me: "This armor is made of many small iron pieces, and there are many cowhide ropes tied in between. It is very flexible and its defensive power cannot be underestimated. Of course, this is a breastplate, but it must have been improved. Look, there are chain mail leggings underneath, which can reach the knees. Of course, the most precious part is the addition of a complete iron plate." Andrew described it vividly, although this did not arouse Luka's interest at all. "Then look at the leather belt on top. It must be very handsome if you ride on a horse and gallop..."

"Oh, Andrew, that's enough, I have eyes!" Luca interrupted Andrew's speech impatiently, walked over and took the armor in Andrew's hand, weighed it up and down, and felt that the weight was very light for him. After putting it on, it felt very suitable. Luca felt that this outfit was not quite what he imagined in his heart. It was too different from the Roman armor in his mind. Besides, this kind of armor basically cannot be worn with other armor.

"Anything else?" Luca asked.

"Oh, of course, Luca, look!" Andrew said, taking out a helmet from the box. He then introduced: "This helmet is made according to the style of the Eastern Empire's armor. The top of the head is made of a whole piece of iron, and there are cheek guards, which are very classical in style. Of course, there are vertical horse heels, which are red. Oh, and there is also a face guard, which is a mask used to protect the face. I think it should suit your taste."

Luga took the mask again, looked it up and down, curled his lips, and thought to himself, this is just a makeshift one, but it's better than nothing.

“That’s gone now.”

"Oh, no, there's more!" Andrew took out a not-so-big shield and an iron sword from the box like a magic trick, and stuffed them all at once to Lujia. Lujia could clearly feel the weight of them, and it had to be said that this was a rare gift.

"Could it be that you gave all of these to me?" Luga held the full set of armor and weapons in his hands and clearly felt the obvious weight of the armor.

"No, Luca, this is not a gift from me. You know, you haven't asked us about salary for such a long time, and you just came here without thinking. This set of armor was given to you by those nobles who flattered Augustus. Because they learned that you saved Augustus like a knight from hell, they took out the ancestral armor to thank you."

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"Oh, it's an heirloom from my ancestors. No wonder it doesn't look that good." Luga muttered to himself, preparing to turn around and go back to the tent.

"Hey, Luke, wait!"

Behind him, Andrew called him loudly. Luca turned around and saw Andrew took out another thing from the box. This time, Luca's eyes did not light up, because it was just an ordinary piece of parchment.

"What is this?" Luca asked puzzledly, looking at the parchment in Andrew's hand.

"This is a letter from the noble who sent you the armor. Of course, it's full of useless compliments." Andrew glanced at it and said to Luca, "But the letter says that the noble's daughter was very interested in getting to know you after hearing about your deeds..."

"Ha, I thought it was something else?" After all, there was no unexpected surprise. Luca laughed dryly and returned to his tent. "It's getting late, Andrew, you go back first. When Augustus is about to leave, tell me."

(End of this chapter)