Chapter 477 - Honourable Sanjek, The Dog That Bites Never Barks

The spy did not say anything in extra, he simply made a slight bow and left the stable silently, just like how he came here a while ago.

The entire conversation between the two men lasted no more than ten minutes, but to the commander Adrianos it seemed to be longer than a century. He left the stable a while later, and went back to the top of the walls to face the reality of his men still suffering in the abyss down there. None of the Ottoman overlords here cared about his presence just like usual, just like how they never showed any concerns for the troopers dying beneath their feet. This is actually pretty normal in the past and the commander never really cared about it, but apparently not today.

The seed has been sowed in the commander's heart, and everywhere he looks he feels that there are people watching him, watching him with eyes of distrust of suspicion sending chills down his back. Every time when these Ottoman nobles are conversing and giggling in Turkish that he cannot understand, he feels that they are talking and laughing about him. He is so worried about his meeting with the spy from the east and his crime of letting him off, but at the same time he is feeling the sentiment of hate and dismay when the higher ups refuse to do anything to save his men and continued chit chatting in a casual manner while his brothers from the same town are dying in a bitter way, as they are expecting the death of his men to exchange for the simple purpose of draining the Rumelian's energy.

All of these feeling mixed together into the larva pumping into the volcano of Adrianos, releasing the smoke of negative emotions making him become increasingly rebellious towards the Sanjek, the Ottoman army, and towards this war. This made him start to develop many thoughts that he would never dared to have in the past, such as going against the commands of the Sanjek.

The battle beneath the wars in the trenches are going into the critical moment, after God knows how many bodies they have thrown away and how much blood lost, the Ottoman force finally started showing signs of halting the assault of the Varangians with the support of the crossbows from their friendlies on the walls. The Varangians showed an incredible resilience as they literally pushed for a hundred meters in less than twenty minutes suffering minimal casualties. But they too have reached their boundaries as their progress began to drastically slow down, if the battle continues for any longer theres almost a hundred percent chance that the Rumelians shall call the Varangians back, for the weight they carry in that pirate bastard's heart.

However, just as they are expressing their optimistic views of the battle towards the Sanjek, the horns behind them beneath the walls started blowing three long consecutive honks and three consecutive short ones, meaning that the headquarters is calling for a complete retreat. This came as an utter shock and bewilderment to the Ottoman nobles on the walls, as none of them made the command. What became even worse is that the gates of the keep slowly opened, the soldiers fighting in the trenches finally saw the light of redemption and began climbing up the trenches to run back into safety as fast as possible, while the archers on the walls too thought that it is the commands coming from the headquarters and began increasing their speed of firing to assist their pals. The Varangians did not give chase.

"Who made the order? Who made the order!" What soon followed the retreat is the furious bellows of the Sanjek with his face beaming to an unhealthy red in colour. "Who made the order? Stand out! Confess! Who is disobeying my general command!"

"It is me!" Adrianos stood up, braving the storms coming right from the Sanjek for the first time in his career. "It is me! Honourable Sanjek! I want, and I need to save the lives of my own men! If you ever want to punish someone! Then please punish me!"

The commander stared right into the eyes of the Sanjek keeping his posture upright trying to show his dismay and confidence, although his legs and still shaking. The Sanjek turned around and stared at him. But strangely after a while the blushing red started disappearing from his old face quickly and all the fury he just had started to disappear. The Sanjek sighed, stepped forward and helped Adrianos to tidy up his messy clothing and armour, gave him a slight punch on the chest and said softly. "I understand that it is your duty as the commander to care about your men, Adrianos, and I know that you are a devoted commander who want to save the lives of your men. But please, next time just have a word with me first before making your own decision, is that alright?"

Adrianos could already no longer feel his back that is covered in cold sweat as the Sanjek approached him just now out of fear for the deeds he has just done. He quickly used the opportunity to seek for pardon, agreeing that he would never do anything like this in the future and then get out of the walls to welcome the return of his men. But as soon as he got off the walls and witnessed the pathetic state of his men, rage started boiling in his heart again as he let off a cold sneer and whispered to himself.

"Have a word with you? O' my Sanjek, my Sanjek, have you started developing symptoms of dementia? Have you forgotten the fact that I have spoken to you, almost kneeled on the ground and begged you for multiple times for my men to retreat? And what did you reply to me with? 'Oh, they are dying for the greater needs, dying for the inevitable victory, sacrificing and fulfilling their duty for the Sultan' Have you forgotten about it?"

The seed is beginning to sprout.

If the Sanjek has dealt with him severely a while ago, at least by removing his post or imprisoning him, the fear being inflicted onto the commander Adrianos would still overwhelm his discontent and rebelliousness making him obedient until the war ends. But dealing with him lightly like this would only have encouraged all the negative sentiments within the man to continue sprouting and growing. But sadly, enough the Sanjek did not realise all of this, or at least there are no one here to remind him of this ever since he executed the only advisor he brought with him.

…

"Your highness, I think that we should have imprisoned that Rumelian who dared to disobey your orders, or at least strip him off his command, or the best execute him."

Back on the walls, Semseddin approached the Sanjek and suggested. "I am starting to have concerns that this might not be the only act of treason he has done against you and letting him off lightly might in turn encourage him to start doing more of this kind of things in the future."

"No, you got my idea wrong, my dear Semseddin." Replied the Sanjek. "I know that his loyalty is questionable, but more importantly we have to remember that he still has two thousand men under his command. These two thousand men are all recruited and trained by him, and he is one of the biggest landlord under my rule that has supplied me with goods, taxes and manpower for years ever since my rule here began, and it is me who made him what he is today."

The Sanjek scrutinised the man beneath the walls attending to the wounds of the soldiers coming in one by one. "Do not worry too much, Semseddin, he is my dog, and a very good dog that never barked towards me. Do you believe that a faithful hunting dog shall one day bite his master? No right? I don't believe in it."

"Honourable Sanjek, the dog that bites never barks."

"You are worrying too much Semseddin." The Sanjek insisted. "Even if he has lost his loyalty towards me, do you seriously think that it is possible for a Rumelian like him to rebel against me? Not the slightest chance as long as he is serving under me, I have the full control."

"But…" Semseddin still wants to retort and convince the Sanjek about his worries, but the Sanjek got tired of it and changed the topic.

"Anyways, you know what Semseddin. I am suspecting that there is an increase in espionage activities in this camp. Recently my men, especially my commanders, have started receiving letters either written by me or by the others with bribes and offerings. I did not investigate into this only because I fear that it might put disunity among the army. But who, or which side you think that might be doing this, Semseddin?"

Semseddin kept his mouth shut and never spoke a single word after this.