The Byzantine city in the distance can already come into view. This is a standard Asian-style Greek city. It was built by Miletus from the Ionian region and is a colony under the control of the Miletus city-state. The city is small, but has a solid wall. The entire city has a population of about 10,000, and is surrounded by tall walls that are not inferior to those of Athens. The walls block the entire city, forming a land-facing one side and the sea on three sides, making it airtight. It can be imagined that if someone wants to attack this city, it is absolutely impossible to break through the Byzantine city unless they control the waterway. When Hilde looked at the city, her surface was calm, but her heart was in turmoil. This was the first time she could freely control her own life after she came to this world and became a girl. She no longer needed to live under the eyes of Pericles, nor did she need to be a good little lady. "We've arrived at Byzantium!" "Hahaha!" The cheers of the sailors and soldiers also came over. Sophia also breathed a sigh of relief and hugged Hilde. "Master, we are finally here!" "I know, I know." Hilde looked at the sturdy city-state in the distance, and many thoughts emerged in his mind. Byzantium was a city-state of Miletus, and his mother Aspasia was also Miletus, and a famous noble. Therefore, if he was in Byzantium, he should be treated well. If he could integrate the Byzantine armed forces with this, it would not be a problem to defend against the Thracian attacks. Of course, the premise was that Miletus had no intention of withdrawing its aid to Byzantium. If the aid was cut off, Byzantium, which lacked sufficient resources, would likely fall into a state of collapse.
Since the ship Hilde was on was flying the flag of Athens, and Miletus and Athens were friendly countries, the Miletus fleet quickly let her go. Soon, Hilde's ship docked at the port of Byzantium, and under the protection of the soldiers, Hilde slowly walked down from the ship. At this time, people in Byzantium had already made preparations. A man in his forties arrived at the port with about twenty infantrymen. "Welcome guests from Athens. I am Patrofilus, the governor of Byzantium. May I ask who you are?" "My name is Hilde, the daughter of Pericles, the Archon of Athens, and Aspasia from Miletus." Hilde smiled and bowed, not seeming to have any problems. "My father thought I was too spoiled and couldn't endure hardships, so he ordered me to live in Byzantium for a while. Therefore, I may have to bother you and the citizens of Byzantium during this period." "Ah, what a beautiful girl! Seeing you, I can understand why Agamemnon and Achilles led the whole of Greece to wage war against Troy. Seeing your beauty, if I were Agamemnon, I would probably lead thousands of troops to besiege Troy just to win your heart." Archon Patrophilus was very sweet and praised Hilde from head to toe. However, this was also Patrophilus's true words. And Hilde smiled. "Thank you for the compliment." "Since you are an honored guest, please come with me." "Well, we'll bother you then." The appearance of a girl like Hilde, who was extremely beautiful and had rare silver hair and purple eyes, in a small city-state like Byzantium caused an earthquake-level sensation. After learning that a girl who looked like a god had descended on this city that was in trouble both internally and externally, the people in the city, regardless of gender, age or status, all ran to the Citizens' Assembly in the center of the city to catch a glimpse of her beauty. However, at this time, the Citizens' Assembly was protected by Hilde's soldiers and the Byzantine guards. "This is fresh grape juice, please enjoy." "Ah, thank you." Hilde sat on a chair covered with animal skins, and Sophia stood beside her. Now, Hilde was in the Citizens' Assembly of Byzantium. This kind of building also existed in Athens. Generally, citizens over 30 years old could come here to express their opinions freely and elect archons and other officials. Candidates also had to give speeches on stage. That was why Athens had many wise men who trained orators and even developed a unique school of wise men. Socrates was also a member of the wise men, who debated with people in Athens all day long. But the problem is that this is clearly a citizens' assembly. But it looks like Patrofilus's private residence. So Hilde had an idea in mind. This Patrophilus was not a consul at all, he was a tyrant.
Tyrant means a dictator who seizes power through a coup or other violent means, and this Patrofilus is obviously such a dictator. Just when Hilde was thinking this, Patrofilus sat in front of Hilde, looked at Hilde with a smile, and said, "Miss Hilde, you came from such a prosperous Athens to a city on the edge of civilization like us. I am sorry that you have been wronged. I wonder if there is anything I can do for you." "I need a residence." Hilde was also unceremonious. "Besides that, I'll buy what I need." "House? Great, Alex died in battle and his house has not been used by anyone until now. It is a beautiful house. Alex is my good friend and he has very good taste. I believe you will be satisfied." Patrofilus hesitated at this point, and it was obvious that he had something else to say. Hilde was actually very clear about all of this. Chapter 2, Part 4: The City Lord is a Fraudster So Hilde picked up the wine glass and sipped it gently. "Is there anything else you want to say?" "To be honest, Byzantium is very dangerous right now. Although you are protected by elite Athenian soldiers, I am afraid something unexpected will happen to a weak woman like you. There are always Thracians outside the city, and it is very difficult to leave the city. Of course, I assure you that the city will never be breached. It's just that life may be a little hard. After all, there are not many supplies, and everyone can only rely on doing business to make money." "Well, I know that." Hilde put down his glass and asked: "But why not resist?" "Miss Hilde, you women don't understand war. There are roughly two thousand Thracians outside the city now. Although they are scattered, once our army leaves the city, they will gather together like wolves in the forest. In order to avoid this, we must hide in the city. Because we only have eight hundred soldiers in Byzantium. In addition, most of them are merchants. In a war, we are no match for the Thracian barbarians." "So, you are relying on the fortified city to defend it?" "Yes, because they don't know how to attack the city, and they can't take it." Patrofilus was very confident about the strong defenses of Byzantium. Hilde also understood that the Thracians lived on the edge of civilization. Although they were very strong in combat, it was sheer wishful thinking for them to prepare siege equipment for construction. The walls of the Byzantine city were at least four or five meters high, and it was enough for all the Byzantine soldiers to climb the walls and fight back with stones, bows and javelins. The Thracians, who lacked armor, could not withstand the huge damage caused by the siege. "So, how long can I stay here?" Hield deflected a question. Patrofilus immediately responded: "Of course you can stay as long as you want." "That's good. Thank you very much." "You're welcome. We also want to welcome Miss Hilde. I'm sure that the morale of the citizens will be greatly boosted after seeing Miss Hilde's beautiful face and aura. Your arrival is also of great significance to the city of Byzantium." Having said that, Patrofilus once again looked at Hilde and said with a smile, "In a few days, I will invite the nobles in the city to come and hold a banquet. At that time, I hope Miss Hilde will be able to honor us." "Of course, I'm extremely happy." After the end of this meeting. Hilde was brought by Patrofilus to the house he had mentioned. I have to say that Patrofilus did not lie. The man named Alex did have good taste. The house was beautifully decorated with lush vegetation and special grape vines. Now was the time when the grapes were ripe. The beautiful grapes, like purple gems, were hanging in the garden, and no one came to pick them. "Ah, Alex has been dead for half a year. I have been cleaning his house, and now someone is finally living in it." Patrofilus gently stroked the wall, then smiled and said to Hilde, "I believe that although this house cannot compare with your beauty, it is indeed the best house in Byzantium. I hope you can live happily here. By the way, can I arrange for your soldiers to live in the barracks?" "of course can."
Hilde nodded. "But can I leave four people as guards?" "Ah, no problem." Patrofilus hesitated for a moment, but finally agreed. Hild left Amyntas and four other heavy infantrymen to live in the house to protect his safety. Especially Amyntas, a strong man, was a very scary presence wherever he went. Most people would definitely retreat when they saw him. After Patrofilus left, Sophia walked quickly in and out of the room, and then said excitedly: "This is indeed a good house, and the Archon is really a good person." "Good guy?" Hilde sneered. "He's a liar." "Liar? Master, how did you know?" "Because he concealed something. Miletus is probably going to give up Byzantium now, but he told me that this place is impregnable and there will be no problem living here for any length of time. And the residents here probably think so too. Did you see that the port has been blocked by warships? This means that the residents of Byzantium have no way to leave here, and naturally they have no way of knowing the real situation in Miletus." "Then, this consul..." "He is not a consul, he is a tyrant." Hilde shook her head helplessly. The current situation is much more serious than I originally imagined. "This Patrofilus dissolved the Citizens' Assembly and established a de facto dictatorship. Then, he deliberately concealed the situation in Miletus and asked the people of Byzantium to guard it. Why? Because he would have to leave Byzantium sooner or later. But if he returned to Miletus, he would definitely be killed by the Milesians because of the tyranny. Therefore, he couldn't let the people of Byzantium spread the news that he was a tyrant to Miletus." "You mean, he wants to kill everyone in Byzantium?" "Yes. Once Miletus' aid is cut off, he will take away all the wealth and return to Miletus. He will destroy all the ships. In this way, the citizens of Byzantium will starve to death here, or be conquered by the Thracians and become their slaves. In the end, they will gain wealth and be lucky enough to survive this series of events." Hilde reached out, picked the grapes from the vineyard, and put them into his mouth. “The grapes here are really unpalatable.” After taking a bite, Hilde spit it out. "Master, do you want to eat grapes?" "Yes, I do want to eat your grapes." Faced with Hilde's blunt words, Sophia was stunned at first, and then she covered her chest with her hands. She blushed and couldn't help but step back a few steps and said, "This, this is not Athens..." "You mean, in Athens?" “Not even Athens!” "Oh, how stingy." Hilde shrugged and looked at the grapes on the shelf. "After all, this situation is also an opportunity for us." Alex's death "Master, what are you going to do?" At this time, Hilde showed that Sophia felt a little strange.
Sophia picked a grape and said coldly, "Take it instead." "Are we going to replace Patrofilus?" "Yes. Not only must we replace him, but we must also expose his crimes in front of everyone. In this way, the citizens of Byzantium will know the truth and they will find that Patrofilos is actually just a selfish person. Therefore, if we take down Patrofilos at this time, we will get the support of Byzantium. This is really... On the way here, I thought a lot about seizing power, but I didn't expect that it has already been prepared for us." "Master, this is a bit scary." Sophia was a little overwhelmed. Hilde didn't seem to be like this in the past. However, Hilde knew very well that she no longer needed to pretend to be like that. She was now free, had money and soldiers, and she had the ability to save her life. In any case, the world was a big chessboard, and she already had a chess piece. Whether she could use this chess piece to create a new world for herself depended on luck and hard work. So Hilde walked up to Sophia and hugged her gently. "Don't worry. No matter how scary I am, I am only scary to my enemies. As for you and the people I cherish, I will do my best to protect you and won't let you get hurt in any way." Hilde gently stroked Sophia's burgundy hair and said tenderly, "Besides, I guess since Patrofilus plans to make everyone in the city a stepping stone for his success, he will definitely involve us. I guess he is now thinking about how to murder us." "Really?" "That's human nature..." Hilde let go of Sophia and walked into the room of the house. "You know, he said there were 2,000 Thracians outside the city, but he was lying. I estimate that there were probably less than 500 Thracians outside the city, because the Thracians had no habit of attacking cities, they only liked to plunder. Moreover, Byzantium had been plundered for several years, and there was no grass growing outside the city, so there was no need to plunder anymore. Therefore, Patrofilus deceived everyone in this matter. Because with the military strength of Byzantium, it was easy to defeat these 500 people." "Master, how did you know?" Sophia was a little confused. Hilde smiled and shook his head, and continued: "It's just a guess, I'm not sure if it's right. Also, I guess that Alex might be a pro-war person, and he discovered Patrofilos' secret, so he was killed by Patrofilos. Because he said Alex died in battle, but now the city of Byzantium has been closed for a long time. The whole city has been blocked for such a long time, and this house, look..." Hilde gently stroked the furniture, there was not a speck of dust on it, "The house is very clean, someone must have lived there in a short period of time." "But he said someone had cleaned the house." Sophia also gently stroked the furniture, and it was indeed spotless. "Look at this house, located next to the Citizens' Assembly, with a great environment and a large area, as well as a garden and an orchard. Such a house must be owned by one of the best people in Byzantium. In other words, Alex must have a very high authority. Patrofilus said that he had someone clean the house, but if it were you, would you clean a house that no one would live in so cleanly? Spotless?" "No, I won't." Sophia thought about it and nodded. "What about grapes?" "Grapes? They grow naturally, right?" "No, the grapes are full, and the stems and leaves show obvious signs of artificial pruning, which means someone must have taken care of them when they were growing. However, the grapes taste sour and astringent, but they look ripe. This shows that no one fertilized or cared for them in the final stage of maturity, resulting in the grapes not being able to accumulate sweetness after they mature. This period of time is fifteen days, which means that no one took care of the grapes fifteen days ago." “It turns out it’s not wild.” Analysis of Hilde. Sophia was also surprised. She didn't expect that her master Hilde knew so many things.
"So, this Alex died about fifteen days ago?" "Yes, fifteen days ago, we just set out from Athens to Byzantium. At that time, I guess Alex may have known Patrofilos's true purpose and planned to expose his conspiracy. He was found out and killed by Patrofilos. In order to prevent the citizens from having doubts, he lied that he died in battle. Moreover, there is no memorial tablet for Alex in this house, which means that Alex's body has also disappeared. It just so happens that he died in battle outside, and there are many Thracians outside. The body cannot be retrieved, which becomes a good reason. Therefore, Alex did not die in battle at all. He was murdered by Patrofilos and his body was hidden." "But if I tell someone about this, no one will believe it, right?" “Yes, there is no evidence.” Hilde walked around the room.