Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

“Heni, calm down! I have already sent Herpus to rush to Laos, and after I finish the matter here, I will also rush tomorrow!” Davos said loudly.

“Thank you, milord, thank you!…” Said Henipolis as he sobbed.

Although Davos felt sorry for him, he could not let him stay sad like this because he knew that cerebral oedema was an extremely dangerous disease at the level of medical science in this era. Even Theonia can't do anything about it, and everything is all up to luck for him to wake up. Thus he needs to start planning for the future of Laos.

“Heni! Heni! Look at me! Look at me!” Davos shook Henipolis' body and shouted at him.

Henipolis blankly raised his head with tears flowing down his face.

“I need to tell you that the physicians of Theonia have experience the condition of your father many times. However, the situation after the treatment is not optimistic.” Hearing this, Henipolis showed a pained expression.

“Listen, child. You are already a 25-year-old young man, a distinguished man of Theonia! If your father's situation is really bad…you should bravely take over the burden borne by him by taking care of your mother and the people of Laos, just as your father did! Do you understand?!…do you understand!!”

“I…understand…” Henipolis nodded with tears.

“Good. Go back and pack your things. You should hurry back to Laos, and I will meet you there!” Davos patted his thin shoulder encouragingly.

As he wiped his tears with his hands, Henipolis staggered out. Then, he suddenly stopped, “Milord, I…can I ask you for help when I am in trouble?”

“Child.” Davos said gently but firmly, “As I have already said, I regard you as my own child, so I will definitely help you with all my might in any difficulties you may face!”

“What happened? I saw Heni crying.” Cheiristoya came in with Crotokatax.

“Dad, I just saw brother Heni crying. He is so big and yet still cry.” Little Cro followed to say.

Davos picked up his child. Even though this guy was almost five years old, he is already quite strong, “Your brother Heni's father has collapsed and still haven't woken up yet.”

“Ah!” Cheiristoya exclaimed and asked, “Is it serious?”

Davos nodded heavily.

Cheiristoya became gloomy. She then thought of something and asked, “Is Heni going back to prepare to take over as the archon?”

“Besides him, who else in Laos could?” Davos said indifferently.

“Dad.” At this time, little Cro pinched his face and asked worriedly, “Are you going to collapse too?”

Davos looked at little Cro and Cheiristoya and answered seriously, “For you, I can't collapse.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Agnes' father, Athelycus, is a famous noble in Rhegium, and he had come from a family who is one of the earliest immigrants in the city of Rhegium. Decades ago, the famous tyrant of Rhegium – Anaxilas, had come from this family. He had also married his daughter to Hiero, the tyrant of Syracuse at that time, but later fell out with him due to the Locrians.

When Dionysius proposed to Agnes, it was not only due to her beauty but also because of her family's influence in Rhegium and her connection with Syracuse. But in the end, Rhegium chose Theonia. With Athelycus marrying his daughter to Theonia's archon, Davos, the Rhegians elected him as one of Rhegium's strategoi for two consecutive years.

Athelycus developed his family’s sea trade by taking advantage of the unique geographical location of Rhegium, especially in the trade between the two city-states of Massalia(Marseille) and Zakantha(Sagunto), earning him huge profits. Furthermore, Athelycus has two shipyards, and its shipbuilding capacity is second to none in South Italia. That is why the Theonian Senate approved handing over the construction of six of the ten triremes to be built this year to Athelycus' shipyard. Of course, this is also the way for Theonia to draw in Rhegium.

But when he and his son-in-law met, the scene was not as harmonious as one expects.

“What are you talking about? To make Rhegium deliver our six triremes in our fleet to Theonia?!”

“That's right. And we will still pay you the price of a new ship while you upgrade your fleet with the new ship, wouldn't that be good?”

“No, it's not! We can't give you our existing warships as it will weaken the strength of Rhegium's fleet!”

“You only have to wait a few more months before you can use the new ship.”

“That's still not good. With the support of the tyrant of Syracuse, the Messinians are now rampant. That's why we must have enough warships to deter them! Why couldn't you just wait a few more months! You can rest assured that our shipyard will deliver the warship to Theonia on time.”

“Our navy is stepping up the training of new tactics, so we urgently need new warships to join in order for us to become familiar with and adapt the tactics as soon as possible.”

“New tactics? What new tactics made you so anxious?!…”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

When the slave outside the living room heard Athelycus' voice became louder as if they were quarrelling, he hurriedly went to tell Agnes.

Hearing it, Agnes felt helpless. Even though she is now the wife of the most powerful archon in South Italia, trying to dissuade her father, who is discussing with her husband, made her uneasy as she grew up under her father's shouting. Thus she went to get Cheiristoya.

Cheiristoya, who was walking in the garden, listened to Agnes' request. She then looked at the sky and said with a confident smile, “Sister, don't worry. I will go and persuade them.”

After giving a few instructions to Azune, she then stops at the outside of the living room. After listening for a moment, she walked right in and said with a smile, “Davos, lord Athelycus, I apologise for interrupting you. However, dinner is already ready, and the children are waiting. Would you like to continue your discussion after dinner or -”

“After dinner, of course.” As soon as Davos heard that the children were hungry, he could no longer sit still. Thus he said to his father-in-law, “Let's finish our meal first before continuing.” Then he stood up.

Athelycus stared at Cheiristoya, but he could not say anything to a pregnant woman, so he just followed them out of the living room.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

“Davos, to tell the truth, this fish soup is much better than the one made in the restaurant that you opened in Rhegium. Is there anything going on?!” The fish-loving Athelycus ate the dinner that was specially prepared for him. He was so satisfied that he forgot his previous displeasure and began joking around.

“There are none. The restaurant is filled with customers making the time so tight that the chef doesn't have enough time to cook it well. While here, just marinating this fish had taken over an hour.” Explained Davos.

“Excellent!” Athelycus praised. He then took another sip and then asked, “Have you tasted the fish sauce I sent last time?”

“Yes. Its taste is unique. It has both savoury and fresh, and a very pungent flavour…my chefs are using it as a sauce and trying it with other foods…” Said Davos.

“That fish sauce was made by the Phoenicians and was produced in Gadir(Cadiz). The city of Gadir, besides being famous for its abundance of silver, Gadir is also famous for this thing. In North Africa, Iberia, Carthage, western Sicily, the coast of Egypt, Asia Minor, and many places had regarded this as a delicious seasoning…” Athelycus took a sip of wine, rinsed his mouth and added, “There are only two kinds of workshops in the city of Gadir, one for refining silver and one for making this fish sauce, and they are roughly split 50/50.”

“Oh, Gadir.” Davos knew this place. It is located at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula and is famous for its abundance of silver. The Phoenicians of Tyre had built it as a settlement, but the Carthaginians now controlled it. However, Davos did not expect it to have this industry besides silver.

“I heard that this fish sauce is made of a…uhm, rotten entrails of mackerels mixed with vinegar. I -” As soon as Athelycus said this, he heard a vomiting sound. Then he saw Agnes leaning on the table as she began to vomit.

Athelycus initially showed anger at his daughter's interruption, but he soon realised what was happening and immediately looked at Davos with eagerness.

“I haven't had the time to tell you.” Davos then said with a smile, “Agnes is pregnant.”

“Wonderful! She is finally pregnant! I was worried about whether it's Artemis’ punishment* that even though two years had passed since her marriage, her stomach showed no sign, while Cheiristoya is about to give birth to a second one. At last, I can finally rest assured!” Athelycus smiled happily. He then raised his mug and said, “This is a great event! Davos, let's have a toast!” (referring to how Agnes had first served as the priestess of the famous Artemis, then transferred to become the priestess of Hera, then married.)

“Cheers!” Davos also raised his mug and drank its content all at once.

Athelycus hiccupped after putting down his mug.

Still seeing Agnes vomiting on the table, Davos anxiously motioned for Cheiristoya to ask someone to help Agnes take a rest.

At this time, Athelycus then said, “Davos, I am ecstatic today, so I have decided to agree to your previous proposal and deliver the six triremes of Rhe…uhm…Rhegium's fleet to you first. As for your other suggestions, such as having the two fleets train together, I will have to go back and discuss it with the Council before I can give you an answer.”

When Cheiristoya noticed that they had begun discussing, she knew that Davos and Athelycus would start talking about business again, so she hurriedly asked the children to leave.