Chapter 483: Maintaining the Army (Part 2)

"I say..." Just as Luca was about to speak, a noble stood up. He raised his hand to signal Luca, then smiled and said to him, "We are all very familiar with what you mean. For a banquet as luxurious as this, hosted by the son of Basilus himself, we naturally cannot just enjoy it without giving anything in return!"

After saying this, the noble who took the initiative to stand up and speak smiled and nodded to the nobles sitting there. This action drew a response from the nobles, who also smiled back, as if they had a telepathic connection.

The noble who stood up gave a few instructions to the slaves behind him, and the other nobles also whispered something to the slaves on standby behind them, but Luca didn't understand.

The slaves seemed to be veterans at this as well. They just listened to one or two sentences, nodded repeatedly, and then all went out, leaving the nobles sitting in their seats with meaningful smiles on their faces.

Soon, boxes of gifts were brought into the Governor's Mansion. They were filled with souledos and valuable jewelry, precious spices from Asia, and even silk from the far east. It was said that silk was an uncommon and precious commodity in the east because of the war. In contrast, souledos became the least presentable thing.

Not only Luca was stunned, even Andrew behind him couldn't help but stare at the boxes of rare things with wide eyes. Andrew couldn't help but get behind Luca and whispered to him, "Are these all for us?"

"These are our small gifts to His Excellency Flavius ​​Luca, the son of Basilus and the supreme commander of the Thracian Field Army!" The nobles all turned their gazes to Luca, their eyes full of flattery.

"What does this mean?" Luca looked at the big and small boxes of "gifts" and felt confused instead of being moved. He didn't want these things but the nobles actually offered them to him on their own initiative. He hurriedly asked Arletto who had already put down his knife and fork.

"Oh, my lord, don't you understand yet?" Arletto smiled and said to Luca, "The previous governor had been urgently transferred back to Constantinople by Basilus to take charge of the defense, but you are here now, leading a legion. Isn't this clear enough? Your Excellency, Governor!"

"Governor?" Luca pointed at himself, as if he couldn't believe the truth of Arletto's words. He was absent-minded for a moment, then he came back to his senses and shook his head and smiled bitterly, "It seems that the governor of Athens changes more frequently than you change your clothes."

"Everyone! Everyone!"

Without waiting for Arletto's doubts, Luca stood up, looked at the nobles, took a deep breath, and then spread his hands. He said to everyone in an obviously kind manner: "As you are here or as you should be able to think of, let me say something off topic. Everyone, the food on the table is to your liking."

“Oh, yes, it’s delicious!”

"Oh, if my cook could make such delicious food, I wouldn't scold her every day."

"Yes, it is really delicious. I think if Jesus were here, he would be so excited that he would not even have time to pray and would feast with us."

The nobles praised him repeatedly, and they seemed very satisfied. However, the flattering words did not make Luca very happy. He just listened to the praises with a forced smile until he said at the end, "So, do you think this meal today would like to be eaten again?"

"Yes, of course I don't."

"Oh, this must be the cook from Constantinople. He's much better than that rubbish I have."

The nobles began to talk at once, but no one hit the point.

"What a pity, happy times are always so short." Luga's words sounded meaningful, causing the nobles present to stop praising him and look at him in confusion, wondering what he was sad about.

"As you all know, we are facing a powerful enemy, and the Huns are pressing forward step by step. In Thessalonica, General Anracis died bravely, and Areobinders betrayed Rome because he was afraid of Attila's powerful strength. Fortunately, I have the loyalty of the Thracian Field Army, otherwise I would have died in Thessalonica." Luca said slowly, but the speaker was unintentional and the listener was interested. Anracis and Areobinders were members of the team of commanders of the joint legion selected to recapture Carthage, and they were also members of the Senate of Constantinople. They were also well-known figures in the entire Eastern Empire, but the environments they were in were very different, and the result was regrettable.

After a brief discussion, the nobles present remained silent. They looked at Luga and listened quietly to see if Luga had anything else to say.

"As you can all imagine, the fall of Thessalonica means that there is no longer any defense line in the north of Athens that can stop Attila's attack." Luca said to the nobles present with a serious expression: "Attila may march south along the Greek Highway at any time. We cannot stop Attila's horse. If we are not alert, we will all die under his horse's hooves in the end!"

The nobles began to whisper after hearing Luga's warning. Luga didn't know what they were talking about. In such an emergency situation, they should work together to face the outside world instead of talking one after another. How many words were there on this point? I'm afraid only the nobles who opened their mouths knew.

"Am I too naive?" Luga asked himself. It seemed that his well-intentioned warning did not make the nobles feel even a little nervous. Are they really going to force me to do this? Luga gritted his teeth, looked at the nobles sitting there, and then looked at the gifts piled up like a mountain. If he accepted them, then he would be in trouble. If he accepted them, it would be difficult to deal with them. If he didn't take them, there would be so many things, enough to maintain the army's expenses for one or two months, but this was far from enough, because Luga needed to expand the army, he needed to raise an army that could compete with Attila! "Lord Luga," another noble stood up at this time. He looked around and said as if he had obtained permission from his companions, "We have thought about it, but we still can't understand what you mean?"

"What don't you understand?"

"Your Excellency said that Attila is destroying cities one after another in Thrace and Macedonia, but can you guarantee that they can get here? After all, there are many cities between Thessalonica and Athens. Think about it, even the huge army of King Xerxes of Persia did not pass Thermopylae. Moreover, we have tall and solid walls that can completely rival Constantinople. So I don't understand why you are still nervous."

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"You don't understand at all. Attila is not Xerxes. He is more cunning and more powerful than Xerxes!" Luca replied.

Another noble stood up and said, "But we heard that Basileus has been negotiating with Attila about the gold to be distributed. I think it won't be long before they accept the gold sent by Constantinople and retreat obediently, just like the Visigoths did in the past."

Hearing the nobleman's words, Luca couldn't help but smile. He was already feeling a little impatient. Then he continued, "Attila asked for a lot of gold, a full six thousand pounds. Just imagine how many golden men can be made with so much gold?"

"Six thousand pounds..."

The nobles exclaimed in private, it seemed that the six thousand pounds of gold really frightened them.

(End of this chapter)