The next day, even more exciting news came: Tissaphernes announced that the Greek mercenaries could plunder this region to obtain supplies.
Everyone cheered and rejoiced, but Davos remained silent. Plunder... it's revenge against Cyrus the Younger! But what did the people here have to do with Cyrus's rebellion? Nothing! They were only suffering this calamity because they lived here. Tissaphernes was truly vicious! And what about the Greeks? ...
By afternoon, Menon's mercenaries had stormed into a village.
Soon the peaceful village was filled with screams and wailing...
Davos watched with his own eyes as his comrades, usually friendly and close to him, now mostly turned into bandits: they stabbed the Persian men who tried to stop them, kicked over old people who clung to them begging, snatched up wailing Persian women, broke into every house, led away livestock, grabbed gold and silver, carried off food... Every face wore a ferocious expression that mixed greed and madness, making Davos feel they were strangers.
Davos wandered through the village like a ghost, listless, and the soldiers who saw him cast surprised looks. A blood-soaked Persian lying on the ground pointed at him and cursed; an old man tottered over and clung to him, pleading... Though Davos didn't understand the words, he knew what they were cursing and begging for. But he could do nothing.
He stumbled away as if fleeing a plague, trying to find an empty place to avoid those angry eyes that made him feel guilty. And in his heart, he kept comforting himself: This is war. This is war!! I had no choice...
Just then, a sudden scream jolted him out of his daze: it was Olivus's voice!
Davos snapped to attention: Olivus might be in danger!
He quickly followed the sound and burst into a house. In the courtyard, a Persian man lay dead in a pool of blood. Without time to think, he kicked open the half-closed door: Olivus was naked, lying motionless on the bed. By the head of the bed crouched a naked woman, and beside the bed stood a girl about ten years old, holding a large stone, trembling all over...
Seeing this, Davos could roughly guess what had happened: Olivus had taken a fancy to the woman's beauty, killed the man first, then forced the woman onto the bed and raped her. While he was in the middle of it, the hidden daughter ran out and knocked him out with a stone...
Bastard! he cursed inwardly, but out of concern for a comrade, he called out, "Olivus, are you all right?!"
Olivus didn't answer, but the little girl was startled. She quickly turned her head and saw another Greek soldier at the door. Screaming sharply as if greatly stimulated: "Bandits! Bandits! I'll smash you!! I'll smash you!! ..." Straining, she threw the stone at Davos and lunged at him.
Davos instinctively deflected the stone with his left-hand round shield, naturally exposing the spear in his right hand.
The girl didn't seem to see the gleaming spear tip, didn't dodge, and charged straight at him like a madwoman.
Davos couldn't avoid it in time. He felt his right hand sink, and the girl's hands, which had just grabbed his face, fell limply onto him.
The woman on the bed let out a despairing cry and lunged over, naked. Davos stumbled back a few steps, letting the woman tightly embrace the girl with the spear still stuck in her chest. The heartrending screams were like knives stabbing into his heart, making him feel dizzy. He was about to faint when someone supported him.
"Are you all right?!" In his daze, Davos recognized Heilos's voice.
"I'm fine." He pushed Heilos away and walked slowly into the yard.
Heilos had noticed Davos's strange behavior earlier and had been following him. Now, though worried about Davos, he was more concerned about Olivus inside the house. He quickly dashed in...
When he came out of the house, he found Davos sitting by the roadside, leaning against the courtyard wall, staring blankly at the sky, motionless, not knowing what he was thinking...
Heilos wanted to pull him up but thought it inappropriate. After thinking it over, he simply sat down next to Davos...
No one knew how long passed before Davos suddenly stood up and shouted repeatedly in a strange voice, hot tears streaming down his cheeks...
After a moment, he calmed down and asked, "That woman?"
"She's gone mad." Heilos sighed.
Davos was silent for a long time, then said, "She lost her husband and daughter. Maybe going mad is the best release for her..."
"Yes." Heilos sensed the pity in his words and added, "Olivus is fine, just knocked out. He woke up a while ago and is resting inside."
Davos said nothing, and Heilos saw the cold glint in his eyes, which made his heart tremble.
"Now we need to go ask the people of this village if anyone knows the geography of Persia." Davos stood up.
Heilos hesitated: "We just robbed them. I doubt they'll tell us."
"There will be ways to make them talk." Davos said flatly, but Heilos felt a chill. The Davos before him seemed different from before. Heilos didn't know if this change was good or bad...
By dusk, the mercenaries left the village in chaos and wails behind them, returning fully loaded. And Davos had found the man he wanted—a Persian merchant. To make him talk, Davos had Heilos and the others capture his wife and daughter. Although Tissaphernes had explicitly ordered that no Persian be taken as a slave, the entire Menon camp turned a blind eye to Davos's actions, and even covered for him.
Davos successfully brought the man back to camp.
...
"You're saying our army has been heading northwest all along?" Davos looked at the Persian merchant named Mariji. The interpreter repeated Davos's words in Persian.
This Persian, short and slightly plump, who claimed to be a small-time trader, cautiously glanced at Davos, then quickly lowered his head and used a twig to draw on the grass: "From what you said earlier, you want to go back to Ionia. Ionia is on the Aegean Sea to the west. You passed through Babylon, Odis, and now here... If you go straight west, not only is the road long, but there are the Taurus Mountains, which are hard to cross. You'd have to take a detour..."
He looked up at Davos again, saw he was listening intently, and spoke a little louder: "So clearly you are following the Tigris River northwest, passing through the Dukeya mountains, Armenia, and finally reaching the Euxine Sea (the Black Sea) to take a ship back to Ionia..."
"Oh, I see! So Tissaphernes's route arrangement makes sense after all." Olivus shouted in sudden realization.
Davos noticed that Mariji's whole body trembled noticeably when he heard this. He immediately glared at Olivus.
"Shut up!" Matonis muttered. Olivus, who usually loved to argue with Matonis, obediently said nothing.
Davos stared at the rough sketch on the ground, studying it carefully for a while, then asked, "In your opinion, what parts of our future route will be troublesome for marching?"
Without hesitation, Mariji said: "The Dukeya mountain region! The fierce and brutal Dukeyans live there, and they don't easily let strangers pass through their land. But—" he glanced at Olivus and quickly added, "Your army is very large, and you have Persians leading the way. It should be easy to get through."
"How do you know our army is large?" Davos immediately asked.
"Because... because before I came in, I saw your camps stretching one after another..." Mariji began to tremble.
Davos patted his shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't be afraid. You have good observation. Tissaphernes—do you know him?"
Mariji immediately shook his head, then suddenly thought of something and began nodding vigorously, his voice trembling even more: "I've only heard... because he once... reported our lord Cyrus's rebellion... almost got his head chopped off..."
Davos looked at him. He avoided Davos's direct gaze guiltily.
Robbers