After Casinos finished speaking, there was a mont of silence below the watchtower.
But soon, the Segestica citizens began whispering among themselves.
"Well said." Maximus praised with a smile.
Casinos showed a complex expression and bowed slightly, but did not speak.
Maximus didn’t mind, he walked to the wooden fence, overlooking the crowd on the bank, waited a mont, then raised his right hand, and the copper horn was imdiately sounded.
Once the bank was quiet again, Maximus called out loudly: "People of Segestica, regarding whether to join our Nix Tribe, you have ample ti to consider. Now, with so many of you gathered here, it’s already dark, it’s cold at night, and the wind by the river is strong, making it easy to catch a cold or fever, and any disturbance could threaten your lives. For your safety, listen to carefully! Ahem..."
Maximus cleared his throat and shouted in a gentler voice, "Are any of you injured?!"
No one in the crowd responded.
Maximus called out anxiously: "We have doctors in our team with excellent dical skills, they have even studied with Emrich Sage, they will surely treat your wounded well and strive to restore him to health! If any of you are injured, speak up quickly, if you delay, it will harm your own body!"
Still, no one in the crowd responded, but they began whispering again: "Is he talking about Emrich?"
"He should be, wasn’t Emrich following Wallis to the Kupa River a few years ago? The Nix people occupied there, he might have joined them too."
"Even Emrich joined the Nix, maybe what this Nix person said is credible..."
"Don’t forget, Emrich is a Skodisqi, he is not to be trusted!"
"But he really cured many of our tribe’s diseases!"
...
At this mont, a Nix soldier suddenly shouted loudly from the edge of the crowd: "Tamosis, I just saw it, your leg is injured, bleeding heavily, what are you hesitating for! If you delay further, do you want your wife to lose her husband and your child their father?!"
Soon, a trembling voice echoed from not far in the crowd: "I...my leg is injured..." As the voice spoke, the surrounding people squeezed away a bit, revealing a small gap, showing a pale-faced man sitting on the ground, his wife and child holding him tensely, and a pool of blood on the ground...
Maximus, on the watchtower, pointed to the soldier who just spoke, and loudly asked: "What’s your na?!"
"Leader, are you talking about ?"
"Yes, you!"
"My na is Sethonos, leader!"
"Which Centurion are you in?"
"The Third Legion, Third Battalion, Fourth Centurion."
"I now appoint you as the temporary Segestica Wounded Transport Captain, the Third Battalion, Fourth Centurion will assist you in taking all the wounded Segestica citizens to our dical team for treatnt, you can also choose so Segestica recruits to help you complete this task, do you understand?!"
"Under...understood!" Sethonos was so excited he could hardly control himself; he had called out just to catch Maximus’s attention, and now he had succeeded!
"Did the soldiers of the Third Battalion, Fourth Centurion understand?!"
"Understood!!" The soldiers of the Fourth Centurion responded in unison.
"Then hurry up and get started!" Maximus shouted, waving his hand.
"Co, co, everyone make way, let us bring out the injured Tamosis..." With Sethonos’ persuasion, the Segestica people hesitantly made a narrow path.
Sethonos carefully carried Tamosis with his comrades, taking him out of the crowd, with Tamosis’s wife and child following closely behind.
By this ti, the dical Team’s doctors and nurses had received the notice and reached the outskirts of the Third Legion formation, imdiately assessing the injury, applying pressure, stopping the bleeding, cleaning the wound, bandaging, and then having the soldiers carry the injured to the temporary base set up in the village by the dical team...
All of this was seen by the surrounding Segestica citizens, word spread from one to ten, ten to a hundred, and their looks toward the Nix people were no longer so frightened or hateful, but filled with curiosity and confusion...
So when Maximus asked again, "Is there anyone else injured?" responses echoed from all directions in the crowd.
Tamosis and his comrades kept busy, bringing the injured out for treatnt.
Eventually, Maximus noticed that the Segestica citizens not only actively made way for them but also helped carry the patients, easing the tension between the Nix soldiers and the Segestica refugees.
Once all the wounded had been carried away, Maximus again shouted: "People of Segestica, it is very late now, you must be very tired, and surely very hungry, I have two suggestions for you! First, those who live in this village and nearby can go ho to rest now; second, those who live farther away may have difficulty returning ho tonight, you can choose to stay here, I will have the soldiers find a place for you to sleep tonight in the village, and even make you so food, fill your bellies, and leave tomorrow...what do you think?!"
The bank went silent, the Segestica people looked at each other, feeling very surprised, finally soone couldn’t hold back, raised their head, and shouted: "You...will really let us leave?!"
"Of course!" Maximus answered categorically, simultaneously raising his right hand: "I can swear to the Goddess Danu, if I am lying, I will be punished by Her!"
Maximus’s words were like a stone thrown into a pond, causing ripples: "You will really find us a place to sleep?!"
"You will really give us food?!"
"My child at ho is not yet a year old, can we have so goat milk?!"
...
"Of course!...Of course!...Of course!..." Maximus continued to respond loudly.
"Excuse ...can we now...join the Nix?!" soone nervously shouted from the crowd.
"Of course!" Maximus smiled, responding even louder: "The sooner you join the Nix Tribe, the sooner you beco official tribe mbers with fifty acres of land!"
"Then...I...I also want to join the Nix now!"
"I will join too!"
...
With soone taking the lead, so Segestica citizens cast aside hesitation and reserve, shouting out.
Maximus had to signal backward, and the copper horn was blown once more.
"Everyone, don’t rush, let’s handle things one by one!" Maximus shouted loudly: "Commander Camillus!"
"Yes!"
"Have the soldiers make way and maintain order, those who want to go ho can leave now!"
"...Yes!" Camillus acknowledged the order, first dispatching a team of soldiers to stand on either side of the road leading from the floating bridge to the West Gate, only then letting soldiers make a path wide enough for three people to walk side by side.
"Those who want to go ho can leave now, but don’t rush, walk steadily towards that way!..." Maximus shouted while pointing in the direction of the exit from the watchtower.
Under Maximus’s repetitive reminders, the crowded people began to move slowly...
When no more people ca out of the passage, less than half of the people remained on the bank.
Maximus didn’t know how long he had stood on the watchtower, his legs were sowhat numb, another wave of drowsiness hit him, yet he continued to persist, shouting: "Valerius!...Crossbow Soldier Team Captain Valerius!"
"Ah...ah... Leader... I’m here!" Valerius, who led the Crossbow Soldier Team, was stationed at the rear of the Third Legion formation, in case of a major riot, they could assist the Third Legion in suppression.
Due to Maximus’s actions, the surrounded Segestica citizens remained calm, Valerius, being elderly, after a whole day of marching, his body couldn’t hold up, he had fallen into a deep sleep leaning against the wall of a house by the road and was hastily woken up by his subordinates.
Maximus, overlooking Valerius rubbing his eyes hard downstairs, apologized: "Valerius, I know you are very tired now, but I need your help, would you consider accepting my order?"
To maintain the initiative in this war against the Pannonians, Maximus led the army in constant rapid movent, which resulted in him penetrating deeply into the Segestica Territory with the Third Legion as the main force, even Quintus, Flanitnus, and other Military Departnt officials did not follow, let alone officials from the Agricultural Departnt and Public Works Departnt; consequently, now that he needed their ability, Maximus had no one available around him.
However, he quickly thought of Valerius. In the past, Valerius was unnoticed, and Maximus only knew of him but did not know him well.
But when Valerius beca the Crossbow Soldier Team Captain and perford calmly and outstandingly in a battle on the Kolana River’s east bank hills, he imdiately caught Maximus’s attention, leading to a special conversation, where Maximus learned that Valerius was originally a slave who gained freedom by saving his master’s life unintentionally, then joined the Roman Army, served for thirty years in various roles such as coachman, duty soldier, lightly equipped auxiliary soldier, copper horn player, legion soldier, centurion, and even centurion, and later, as he aged, he transitioned to logistical roles like Military Equipnt Guardian, geodetic team mber, actuarial accountant, and Assistant Deputy Officer, practically having done all the low-level jobs in the Roman Army, making him a small encyclopedia of the Roman Army, astonishing Maximus, who also regretted knowing him too late.
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