Arslan Senki

The night was now turning to dawn, and light filled the atrium of the fortress of Peshawar.

Prince Rajendra of Sindhura was brought before Arslan, still wearing his armor over luxurious silken clothes, and arms bound with a thick rope. The one who dragged the rope was Alfreed, proud of the great merit she had just established for herself.

Rajendra sat cross-legged in front of Arslan, remaining calm.

"Alright, you got me, you got me! I've been soundly outwitted."

He spoke loudly in the Parsian language, and laughed vigorously. Regardless of what he was thinking on the inside, his expression and voice did not show any malice, as he appeared completely at ease.

"Alfreed, you did a great job."

    Arslan praised Alfreed, and the daughter of the Zott Clan chief gently bowed.

"Not at all! It was all due to Lord Narsus' excellent strategy."

Since Alfreed had refrained from calling him "my" Narsus this time, Narsus was slightly relieved.

"Prince Rajendra, I am Prince Arslan of Pars. Although the method was a little rough, I brought you here in this manner because I have something to discuss with you.”

"I am a prince of Sindhura, and the next king. If you have something to say to me, you can first untie this rope and treat me with the courtesy of a royal, and then I’ll hear what you have to say."

"Of course. I’ll untie you at once."

Arslan had intended to untie Rajendra himself, but Narsus gave a wink to Daryun. The black-clad knight nodded, saluted Arslan and took a step forward, drawing the longsword from his waist.

Rajendra was taken aback and his body tensed, only to see the blade as a flash of white light coming towards his body.

The sword had achieved its goal, with added dramatic effect. Looking at the ropes that were cut down around him, Rajendra licked his dry lips with his tongue. Daryun's sword had not hurt Rajendra one bit.

"My apologies. We should be able to speak as equals now."

"…Well, alright then. What is it that you have to say?"

"We want to propose a mutually beneficial alliance with you. First, we will help you ascend the throne of Sindhura."

Arslan's speech had been prepared for him by Narsus beforehand.

"The situation in our country also seems to be a little chaotic at the moment."

Arslan used an unfairly polite expression.

"What is meant by chaotic?"

"The Lusitanians who follow the god Yaldabaoth are invading from the west. Our army has fought bravely, but unfortunately, the situation is still not ideal."

Gieve gave a malicious smile behind Arslan's back. Arslan was valiantly trying to learn Narsus’s style of negotiation, which everyone found a bit off-putting.

"Well then, aren't you all in a worse position than me? Saying that you want to assist me doesn't strike me as being beneficial, in comparison."

"True, but at least I'm not being held captive by a foreign country's army. That's what I have in my favor, isn't it?"

"…… That is true."

Rajendra replied sharply as he swept his eyes towards the people around him. He looked briefly over the faces of Narsus and Daryun, and lingered for a while on the fair and beautiful Farangis.

"Still, you’ve not convinced me to ally with you. You said it yourself, don't you just want to use my troops? Don't try to talk your way around it, what fool would agree to this?"

After a glance from Arslan, Narsus unclasped his hands and spoke up.

"What was that? If you don't wish to agree, it’s fine with us. We will just put a shackle around your neck and hand you over to Prince Gadhevi. Gieve, bring the chain!"

"Wait, hold on a minute! Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions!"

Rajendra was frightened by these words, as Gieve had quickly thrown a set of slave shackles heavily on the ground in front of him. Rajendra tried to rise apprehensively, but then sat back down again. It seemed that although Rajendra liked to think of himself as a strategist, his own scheming had not measured up. Perhaps it was because of his good nature.

"Even if you give me to Gadhevi, he will not thank you. He is a ruthless man, and might attack you on the pretext of killing his half-brother."

Narsus could not help but laugh coldly at Rajendra's argument.

"It doesn't matter what Gadhevi thinks. If you refuse to make an alliance with us, we will have no choice but to retaliate. It’s actually quite simple, don't you think?"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute! Even if we want to make an alliance, it's not something that I can decide alone. I must have time to explain things to the people of Sindhura!"

"You don't need to worry about that."

"Why do you say that……?"

"We have already sent word to the people of Sindhura. We said that Prince Rajendra and Prince Arslan of Pars have formed an alliance built on friendship and justice, and have already begun marching to attack the capital, Uraiyur, in order to bring peace to Sindhra."

"……"

Rajendra's eyes widened, and for a moment there was no sound.

"Within two or three days, this news will reach Uraiyur, right? And of course, this news will convince the people of your resolve.”

Sweat dripped from Rajendra's dark skin. Everything was going as Narsus had planned. Rajendra himself now had to admit this. Most importantly, whether he lived or died was now completely in the hands of the damned Parsians.

"Okay, I understand."

Rajendra’s voice was more pretentious than angry.

"Let's make an alliance! No, I should say, O Crown Prince of Pars, I really envy you. You are still so young, and yet you have such excellent subordinates. You will be a reliable ally. Let's do our best for each other in the future!"

Because of the establishment of the alliance, Rajendra now became an energetic guest.

"Say, let's drink! Your Highness Arslan, you don't have to be so polite just because you are still a child. Since we are men, we should drink heavily, embrace women, hunt elephants, and seize the country. Should we fail, we will die as traitors!"

Rajendra opened his mouth wide and laughed so loudly that even his teeth were exposed. He drank from a big bowl, ate a big piece of meat, talked, laughed, and sang a ballad of Sindhura.

Gieve watched on in disdain. "That's not singing. It's more like a water buffalo snoring." Yet the prince of Sindhura kept moving his mouth.

Soon after, Rajendra left his seat and sat next to Farangis. From the very beginning, he was attracted by her dazzling beauty. He spoke to Farangis in both Parsian and Sindhuran, pouring more wine into her silver cup with each word. At Farangis's other side sat Gieve. As if he was intent on keeping Rajendra in check, Gieve also began to pour the wine from the bottle he was holding into Farangis's silver cup.

After Daryun had taken Arslan, who had withdrawn in the middle of the dinner, back to his bedchamber, he returned to the dining hall. The beautiful priestess warrior was just stepping out of the hall with an elegant pace.

"Lady Farangis."

"Ah, Lord Daryun. Is His Highness Arslan already asleep?"

Farangis’s cheeks looked a bit red, but other than that, there was no sign of drunkenness at all.

"Already asleep. How is Prince Rajendra?"

"He had been drinking heavily, but at some point he fell asleep. Sindhurans don't seem to be very good drinkers."

She spoke clearly and distinctly, and her expression was also extremely sober.

After she left, Daryun, who felt a little puzzled, took a step into the hall.

The room was still filled with the smell of wine. At least dozens of bottles of wine. Bottles of ale and mead were also scattered everywhere, covering the whole carpet. The prince of Sindhura sat in a daze among the bottles, muttering something.

"Well, that woman has an amazing tolerance for wine! She easily outdrank the two of us!”

"Two?"

"That musician called Gieve should be around here somewhere …… Is he still alive?"

Hearing this, Daryun couldn't help but look around the room. He spotted the good-looking younger man with fuchsia hair leaning against the wall, drinking water to sober up.

"Damn, it feels like herds of buffalo are singing and dancing around in my head! How did it get like this? For each glass I had, Lady Farangis had already drunk three glasses ……"

It seemed like Farangis had knocked down these two inferior drinkers by her own strength.