I Became a Slave to a Mythical Shepherd

Episode 33. new fashion

The expressions on the faces of Anoitus and Polemon after hearing the price of the iron farming tools were worth seeing.

“Scleos, do you know what this means?”

“of course.”

“This, Hephaestus, my God…”

Anoitus couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

In fact, the iron ware of this period was not as competitive as the bronze ware.

The quality is poor because the smelting technology is not developed, and the price is expensive because the production volume is not large.

Of course, there is steel imported from the Hittites.

At this time, imports along the land route? Prices, of course, skyrocket. Still, I had to buy it because I liked it.

Bronze is better for that. That is why bronze shields and helmets have been steadily excavated in this area in the distant future, even in the 8th century B.C.E.

Bronze weapons were expected to survive until the time when the Dorians, who used iron weapons, invaded and the Mycenaeans, who formed Mycenaean civilization, collapsed.

But not anymore.

Uncle Skleos and I changed that fate.

The old man spoke calmly.

“As I said before, I know about the vast amount of land that Cassius bought.

Most of them are useless wasteland.

It is stony, the soil is not fertile enough and the distance from the water source is obscure.”

No wonder.

Cassius wasn’t eager to start a profitable business here, and he didn’t plan to buy fertile land from the native landowners at a premium, as the lands were already occupied by native landowners.

The situation did not change even after Anoitos took over the baton.

Anoitus mostly thought of the city as a hub for intermediary trade, and managed the land his father bought in order to be recognized as a landlord in the region, only to show respect.

It is said that the lives of the slaves and peasants of the land have been maintained without much change.

All they do is live on rocky ground and just live off the harvest, paying a tax that doesn’t mean much to the owner.

“We invited Anoitus to change the situation. In particular, in the field of Anoitos, which has a lot of wasteland, you will be able to dramatically improve the harvest.”

“…keep talking.”

“Obviously, digging in harder ground requires tools that are harder than stone or wood. Then you can pick the soil, dig out the stones, sow the seeds, and dig the canals.”

“You can cut out useless weeds, and you can create a forest with acorn trees or olive trees in their place.”

This can offset the disadvantages of being stony, barren soil, and remote water sources.

In other words, you can run a properly profitable farm.

“If that happens, this Chamber of Commerce branch, which is maintained through intermediary trade with us, will be able to grow with a foundation…”

“All right.”

Interrupting Uncle Skleos’s words, Anoitus made an expression that seemed deep in thought.

What does that expression mean?

After all, it is absurd to farm with metals that are more expensive than gold.

Or… the adventurous spirit of seizing new opportunities?

I desperately hoped that the feelings that arose in Anoitus’ heart were the latter.

“For today, I think this is enough business talk.”

Anoitus with a complicated face said that and raised his glass.

“Shall we move on to the lightening of the head now?”

***

“Polemon.”

“Yes, Master.”

“My father doesn’t show it, but he must have been very angry and disappointed, right?

That I ran away cowardly.”

Any other ordinary servant would comfort him.

-‘no. Master Anoitos, doesn’t everyone know what you’ve been working hard for?’

-‘It’s a bad thing that those immoral men tried to poison the young master. It was an unavoidable choice for you to run away.’

-‘Escape? Didn’t Anoitus leave to live? What’s wrong with leaving home to live?’

I will give you these sweet words, tender words, words that heal and encourage people’s souls.

But Polemon had no intention of doing that.

“of course. Cassius is very, very disappointed in the young boy.

So do I.”

At Polemon’s direct words, Anoitus smiled bitterly as if in pain.

But Polemon isn’t just saying this because he’s comfortable with or disrespects the master and the youngster.

It wasn’t because he became arrogant or forgot his position, and it wasn’t because he hated the young master and made him suffer.

he is a servant

He clearly knows what his master really wants from him and what his master needs.

So he only says what is necessary.

“My father must have said this and that about me when I was gone, could you please tell me?”

“It’s not possible. Hearing such things is nothing but self-inflicted harm.”

-“He is neither my son nor a man. A pitiful thing, I should have thrown it out on the street as a kid.”

So, when Polemon heard the news of his son’s flight, he did not bother to utter the rare expression of anger on his master’s face that broke his composure, and the many insults he had hurled at his son.

Because it is unnecessary.

Master Anoitus smiled at Polemon when he heard the answer he wanted, the bitter truth.

“Then, I’ll change the subject and ask.”

It was a refreshingly cool early morning when they arrived, but before they knew it, the setting sun was setting over the heads of the two people in the carriage.

The crimson sunlight coming in from an angle carves a complicated gag on Anoitos’ face.

“If I nurture a business here, and make it as great and prosperous as the one in Troia, which my father manages himself, will my father acknowledge and forgive me again?”

Polemon did not hesitate.

“My master forgives nothing. An enemy can be avenged and liquidated, but the young master is his only son.

Perhaps the master won’t forget the fact that young young master ran away.”

It was a harsh answer that everyone would say, but Anoitus smiled broadly at Polemon’s words.

The two know each other well.

Polemon had been by Anoitus’ side since he first sucked his mother’s milk.

Before fleeing, even on the last night, Polemon greeted Anoitus as he did every day.

Anoitus must have known what Polemon meant.

“You will never forgive me, but…”

“…you will admit it.”

Anoitus’ expression gradually brightens like the moon watching the sunset.

Soon, the red sky turns off in an instant as if by magic, and the bright moon and stars hang from the dark blue ceiling.

“Soon I will be recognized. yes?”

“if···”

“Yes, Polemon. You may object to me, but I intend to accept Skleos-sama’s proposal.”

A star brushes Anoitus’ ear and falls to the ground.

“We have already seen examples of success.”

“Skeleos says he’s experimenting with his field, but… you haven’t even harvested it yet, have you? How could you take that alone as an example and get into a risky business?”

“I have made a decision. I’m going to buy steel from Skleos and start a new olive and fig farm.”

“It is dangerous.”

“Then, it’s dangerous!”

Anoitus finally burst into laughter. Laughing loudly, he enjoys the vibrations of the rolling wagon.

Before they know it, their nest, the mansion is getting closer.

“But would it be more dangerous than if your father had set out on the voyage himself?”

“…”

Polemon didn’t bother to say anything more.

Recklessness is the privilege of the young. Because you don’t know the bitterness of failure that you will experience there.

However, his young master is willing to venture beyond what is allowed for a young man.

What if you spend a lot of money and effort to clear the field and fail again?

Even if this small-scale Sanghoe branch is making a profit from the iron ingot trade, it is bound to stumble.

Then, perhaps Cassius-sama will consider the alternative, which he had been putting off until the end, the method of adopting the two.

but···

It’s about steel and nothing else.

Ten iron pots will make the king of Mycenae drool.

100 pieces of iron-smelling armor will make all the kings of Achaia (Ἀχαια, Greece) shake their heavy hips.

1000 iron axles will cause the crumbling Hittites to rise again and wage war against Egypt once more.

Polemon thought for a moment about the long conflict between the Hittites and the Achaeans. Even the Assyrians under the Hittites.

If you make agricultural tools out of iron in Antandros, how will they accept it?

How will the Achaeans, angry at the trade embargo imposed by Troy, the various city-states facing the border, the Thracians, Lydians, Mysians, and Phrygians move…

“Polemon, I will.”

It was Anoitos’s word of determination that broke the chain of thought.

“If you want to do it, do it.”

Even Cassius-nim said he would stop, so he didn’t listen.

He was always reckless.

The two would deny each other, but… both the son and the father were people who were completely alike.

***

As always, Anoitus held banquets every day and won favor and favor from the powerful people around him.

Rumored to be a little flimsy, this rich young man, who is quite jovial and knows how to please people, was able to take center stage in the social scene not long after his appearance.

The manor of Anoitus was now a popular spot for citizens of Antandros, a meeting place, a place where young lovers met each other’s eyes for the first time.

and,

Rumors circulated from there.

“So, look at how much the harvest has increased this year compared to last year.”

“Where is it… 30%?”

“Shh, only you know. Never, never spread more!”

Originally, the contents of the conversation that ends with these words do not end with only ‘you’ knowing.

The content not to spread is originally the content that spreads the best.

“that! Nonsense! I have always admired your character and honesty, but this exaggerated record may be enough to shake my respect!”

“Is this an exaggerated record? If you suspect an exaggeration, I will direct you back to Anoitus. He clearly told the servant!

‘More waterways to me. Since the harvest has increased by more than half, there are a lot of things to do.’ Like this!”

“That wasteland? More than half the yield?”

The whispers, which first started in the mansion of Anoitus, soon began in the square,

“Did you hear? I heard that these days, if you go to the north, the trees are quite green, so it’s nice to see.”

“That’s the original property of Anoitus-nim! Madam, is it okay if I come and go like that?”

“What. The servants of Anoitus-sama took a sneak peek at it.”

In the secret rooms of each citizen’s mansion,

“I heard that more farmers were being saved, so the thieves from the area began to gather little by little.”

“So what happened?”

“It’s a little too much to mix with other slaves or sharecroppers, so they gather them and make them grow a fig tree…”

“The figs. Cultivated in that crumbly land…”

“It is no longer a crumbly land. They said they laid a new canal.”

At the end of all those rumors, a few words flowed.

It was the part that Anoitus emphasized every time he slipped his words, so the message was delivered to the listeners without scattering even in the spread of exaggeration and omission.

“I received that iron ingot from Skleos-sama,”

“Using an iron instrument,”

“Clearing the weeds and stones of the wasteland,”

“Drilling canals through hard ground,”

“so···”

He turned the vast wasteland into a farm.

Anoitus made a great fortune.

If you want to check it out, Skleos said without hiding it.

“Look. This is the secret of its wealth. I, Skleos, am convinced that you deserve to share in this, abundance.”

“Ha, but to make things like that easier for slaves to work with is iron…”

“I am not saying that slaves should be comfortable working. It is to make the land richer and to make noble people richer.

A boy who appears to be a servant puts a horse on it.

“An iron plowshare can dig far deeper than a stone or wooden plowshare. It breaks up the dry, hard soil on the surface and scoops up the moist, nutritious soil on the inside!”

“Did you hear? Take a look at the other farming tools. A hoe made of iron can reach Gaia’s inner flesh as easily as an armed Hercules slashing his enemies. And the rake…”

Are you suspicious of words? Such people went directly to Skleos’s farm and faced farmers digging through the soil with their precious steel.

And, on the land where a couple of households had farmed leisurely while dozing off in the sun not too long ago, dozens of trees were densely planted and bearing figs.

those who witnessed the miracle.

“Hey, can I order it?”

“Do you want a hoe or sickle or pitchfork or shovel? Depending on how much you want, write the number here on the mud board. There are orders from Skleos-sama right now.”

“How much does it cost to get it in time for the sowing season?”

“that···”

He gave generously to the Prophet.

Soon Skleos’ forge will double in size again.

Travelers who did not know the circumstances saw the sky full of smoke and the shouts of flames, and only shuddered, wondering if there was some kind of war.

“300 scythes? Master Skleos, have you received the order?”

“If you don’t take orders now when they come in, the heat will cool down later. Isn’t that right, Paris?”

“that’s right. Oh right. There are about 150 shovels left behind, so please hurry up.”

“until when?”

“Uh… until ten days later?”

“I’d rather die.”

No, I don’t even know if the war was right.

“Misters, do you know how many silver coins Mr. Skleos has made this time? I can take that 10%.”

“How much?”

“actually···.”

“oh my god.”

And in that war, Paris’ purse was winning.