Chapter 231 - 230
As the dignitaries continued discussing the young garrison commander was dismissed from the Arcadian party as he had no desire to align himself with the other’s desires, and rather than have him be present to further impede the discussion sending him back was the more desired result.
In the end, after sitting and discussing for only roughly an hour, it was decided the city would surrender itself unto Julius and his legion, so long as the terms they agreed upon were upheld.
First of which was that no conflict would happen within the city boundaries, while anyone who wished to leave the city would still be free to do so, however the city would be under Romanus laws, which after discussion seemed to be actually a bit more lax than what already existed in the Protectorate, so having the guards adapt to performing under the new arrivals from Romanus would be easier assuming that the guards themselves did not need to be replaced entirely due to lingering grudges held for battle waged thus far.
To prevent as much of this as possible the dignitaries will be announcing the cities surrender and the truth behind their reasons why.
As for Julius well he got to return to his own lines where he got to speak to his gathered me.
"Gentlemen brave warriors all, it seems our opponent has heard your boisterous voices ring on high, and in the lyrics they have come to find their own reason for participating in this war was in fact a lie provided to them by their rulers, and so the people have chosen to surrender their city unto us, however this comes with terms, the same as I myself always adhere to, none but the guilty shall suffer, and any who wish to leave shall be allowed to do so without cause for embarrassment or shame."
The thousands of Romanus soldiers heard the words of their liege lord, and at once broke out into a cheer that reverberated through the air even more so than their previous battle song, like the roar of a mythical beast having been roused from it’s slumber.
Per the terms set Julius and his men did not take further action for 3 more days simply sitting in their camp and waiting on the morning of the third day, the city gate finally opened itself once more, and much to the shock of his own men thousands of men and even women filtered their way out through the gate, before casting down their sword, spear and shield before moving off to form lines before the walls themselves.
Was this a test?
A test to see if his terms were real?