At this time, Hilde picked up the broken sword and said:
"This is an iron sword that was damaged during a recent training session. The reason for the damage was not because the sword was used to cut something very solid, but because the strength of the sword body was not enough. During close combat, the load-bearing range of the sword body was exceeded, so the sword became like this."
Having said that, Hilde showed the broken end of the sword to the craftsmen.
An experienced craftsman can tell at a glance.
“There’s a hole in there!”
"Yes, this is the result of not forging it well."
After receiving the craftsmen's reply, Hilde smiled faintly and threw the broken sword on the table.
"I've told you before that on the battlefield, weapons are a soldier's second life. Weapons and armor must be kept in the best condition to minimize casualties! Take a good look at this sword. If this sword appears on the battlefield and our Byzantine soldiers are fighting the Thracians, and the sword suddenly breaks, what will our soldiers do in the face of the Thracian attack?"
Hilde's words were already filled with strong anger.
Everyone could see that Her Majesty the Queen was angry.
"Remember how I set the rules before?"
"Remember... Your Majesty, if any weapon is damaged due to slacking, cutting corners, etc., the supervisor will be whipped ten times and the main craftsman will be sentenced to death."
At this time, the weapons officer standing next to Hilde spoke nervously.
And Hilde sighed, then said, "Then let's do it according to the rules."
"Yes……"
The military officer came over and picked up the sword.
"The supervisor is... Aristius."
"His Majesty!"
At this moment, a well-dressed man suddenly knelt on the ground in fear.
"Okay, stop making excuses."
"Your Majesty, I, I..."
Several soldiers came over and dragged Aristius out of the workshop. He kept begging for mercy, but Hilde seemed not to hear him. To her, these were unimportant. Ten lashes would let the other supervisors know how important their duties were.
"Where's the craftsman?"
"Swordsmith No. 16."
"..."
At this time, everyone's attention was focused on a strong man.
He was stunned for a moment, then immediately became emotional: "Your Majesty, this, this is impossible! How could such a terrible problem occur with the sword I made with my own hands! Your Majesty, someone must have deliberately framed me here!"
"Is it?"
Hilde picked up the broken sword and looked at the marks on it.
"But this mark was carved by your supervisor, Aristius himself. Do you think your supervisor forged this mark in order to deliberately murder you? Don't forget that all the processes and procedures of this weapon, from the initial iron ore to your hands, are recorded!" Hilde said here, throwing the broken sword aside, "Come here, capture him and take him out."
"His Majesty!"
At this moment, the man suddenly grabbed the spear next to him.
"Your Majesty, it really wasn't me!"
"Do you want to resist?"
Faced with Hilde's words, the man was terrified.
He doesn't want to die. He was clearly doing his job honestly making weapons, so why is he suddenly facing the death penalty?
Hilde walked towards the man. The soldiers around wanted to stop her, but Hilde stopped them. With Hilde's steps, she got closer and closer to the man. Looking at the queen's dignified and beautiful face, the man's hands were shaking with nervousness. He didn't even know whether to point the spear at Hilde. After walking in front of the man, Hilde raised her head and said coldly, "Put down the spear."
"Your Majesty, it really wasn't me..."
"Put down the spear."
"His Majesty……"
Faced with Hilde's order, the man was in a dilemma.
However, Hilde is a man who believes in doing things three times more often.
She had already reminded him twice, so there was no need to remind him a third time.
As a result, before the man could react, Hilde grabbed the spear in his hand, pulled the spear head down, and stabbed it directly into the man's head from his chin. The sharp spear head pierced the man's mouth, passed through his tongue and brain, and then the tip emerged from the top of his head. After Hilde did all this, there was no drop of blood on her body. She had quietly retreated three or four steps and said to the soldiers behind her:
"Tied him up at the city gate and put him on display for ten days."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
So, under the terrified gaze of the craftsmen.
The soldiers simply dragged the dead man away.
"Okay, everyone."
At this time, Hilde continued to say to the craftsmen with a smile on his face:
"I hope you can learn from this, because the weapons you make are related to the lives of the soldiers. If there is any problem, the soldiers will die. As long as you can ensure the quality of weapons and armor, and there are no problems like today, then there will be no problem!"
The second tune, the second verse, the feeling of being difficult to accept
The craftsmen were terrified.
However, there was indeed something wrong with the man just now.
Then, the craftsmen and supervisors all said in unison: "Yes, Your Majesty!"
"Then everyone continue to be busy, I will take my leave first."
Hilde left the workshop and took a deep breath.
The smell in the workshop was really bad. Although Hilde didn't care on the surface, she actually felt sick for a long time. Moreover, when the man pointed the spear at Hilde just now, she always felt that something hidden in her heart was awakened again. Hilde didn't like that feeling.
"what--!"
At this time, a scream came from the side.
The supervisor in charge of the broken sword was tied to a pillar and stripped naked.
The strong heavy infantrymen whipped the supervisors with whips.
This was not the small whip used between husband and wife, but a large whip specially used to punish prisoners. One whip would tear the skin apart, let alone ten whips. When the supervisor saw Hilde, he begged Hilde to let him go. However, Hilde pretended not to hear and left the workshop.
That afternoon.
At the city gate with the heaviest traffic.
The craftsman's body was hung on the city wall.
Below, there was a clay tablet that wrote what crime the craftsman had committed. A man with a spear piercing his jaw was scary enough, but when everyone saw that this man was making shoddy weapons, they couldn't help but get angry. After all, everyone knew that these weapons were related to the lives of the soldiers, and there must be no problems.
"Gods above..."
Aspasia felt a chill in her heart when she saw this scene.
"Xixi, she..."
"Engrave the name of the craftsman on the weapon. Once there is a problem with the weapon, it can be directly traced back to the supervisor who supervised the manufacture and tested the quality of the weapon, as well as the craftsman who produced the weapon. In addition, weapons are the lives of soldiers, so if the craftsman dares to make weapons indiscriminately, he will be sentenced to death..." At this time, Herodotus looked at the scene in front of him and nodded, "Lady Hilde is really an elusive existence, but she did the right thing."
"Herodotus, is it right for Sissi to do this?"
At this time, Aspasia couldn't help but say:
"In Athens, there is no such thing."
"That's true, but the soldiers in Athens all bought their weapons at their own expense. However, it's different in Byzantium. The weapons here are all managed by the state and the officials are responsible for them." Herodotus nodded as he spoke, obviously agreeing with Hilde's system. "Under this system, the quality of weapons can be guaranteed, and soldiers don't need to bear huge weapon expenses. No matter they are nobles or civilians, they can fight to defend the country."
"But……"
Aspasia was a little overwhelmed.
Why did my daughter become such a person?
The Queen's affairs were enough to make Aspasia unacceptable.
And what is the reason for this decisive and murderous character?
"Lady Aspasia."
At this time, Herodotus suddenly lowered his voice and said, "This is the Byzantine Kingdom, not Miletus or Athens. I hope you can respect the laws here. Although you are Lady Hilde's mother, Lady Hilde is the queen here after all, and was chosen by the Byzantines themselves."
"……you're right."
Aspasia nodded.
“This is the path they chose.”
"Yeah... I really don't know what direction the Byzantine Kingdom will go!"
In Herodotus' eyes, the Byzantine Kingdom was full of fresh existence. Living in Athens, which has always been a benchmark for freedom and democracy, Herodotus had almost no contact with monarchy. Even Sparta was a system of two kings, a democracy in the guise of monarchy. However, Byzantium was different. It was a monarchy through and through. Hilde held the absolute power of the city-state, and the administrative structure of the entire Byzantine Kingdom was centered on the king.
Many innovations have been made in the system.
Herodotus found it very strange.
He realized that there seemed to be nothing wrong with him coming here.
Here, he can find many interesting places.
Hilde, who has been busy all day, has now returned to her home.
"what……"
"Um……"
The girl's panting sound echoed in Hilde's room.
On the table, there was a little bit of incense, and the whole room was filled with a particularly pleasant aroma. On the large, linen-covered bed, there were two young girls lying. The one with a graceful figure, curvy figure, dark red hair, and sleeping soundly was Hilde's maid, Sophia. On the other side, the blonde, blue-eyed, petite little girl was Dione, who had been very resistant before.
Second tune, third verse: This is the path you chose
Sucking blood once a week is the best way for Hilde to relieve stress.
Before, when Sophia was alone, Hilde was particularly afraid of hurting her. Sometimes, when she was in a bloodthirsty state, she couldn't control how much blood she wanted to suck. She would often overdo it. But now with Dione, the problem was solved.
However, every time she sucked Dione's blood, Hilde always felt an indescribable psychological burden. Now Dione had been able to accept being used as food by Hilde. Every time her blood was sucked, she did not object on the surface, but Hilde could still see that she was a little scared.
Hilde had no way to deal with this.
I must now take responsibility for the mistakes I made in the past.
Although Hilde was cruel in some matters, she also had a clear sense of right and wrong. If she had killed Dione directly, there would not have been any of the current problems. However, Hilde's conscience told her not to do so. If she still killed an unarmed girl who had no ability to resist and was not in any danger, and who had suffered such a hardship because of herself, it would be a completely inhumane thing to kill her.
"Sissi..."
At this time, Sophia talked in her sleep.
Don't know what she is thinking.
Seeing her sweet sleeping posture, Hilde couldn't help but smile faintly. This was a sincere smile. For Hilde, the two people she loved most in this world were her mother Aspasia and Sophia who had always taken care of her.
Now he finally gained a foothold in Byzantium and took control of this area. Although Hilde seemed to have a deeper halo of honor, she was actually quite worried about the future. In order to survive in this chaotic world and defeat the final villain, there were many things to do, and every step was full of danger.
That's what Hilde has to do now.
It means protecting everything you have now.
"Good night."
So Hilde blew out the candle in the room and turned to leave. At this moment, Hilde's mother Aspasia came to Hilde holding a candlestick. She seemed to want to say something to Hilde, but she was hesitant. Unexpectedly, Hilde suddenly came out of the room at this time.
"Mother, what's wrong with you?"
Hilde asked with a smile.
"Are you not used to living here?"
"No, Sissi..."
Aspasia didn't know what to say, after all, Herodotus's advice today was still ringing in her ears. This was Byzantium, which had its own system and laws, and she shouldn't interfere. But as a Milesian, Aspasia knew the laws of Miletus very well. A city-state that was born out of Miletus suddenly became a law like this, and Aspasia would always find it a little unacceptable.
"Today I saw a craftsman executed in the square."
