TWOD 12
Chapter 12: The Hoplite
“Give me the IOU,” Su Ye said calmly, the torchlight flickering in his eyes.
Ravens raised his chin slightly toward Su Ye. One of his toughs immediately walked over, snatched the money bag from Su Ye’s hand, and respectfully presented it to Ravens with both hands.
Ravens untied the bag’s opening, tilted the bottom up, and a shimmering golden waterfall of coins poured out, scattering at his feet like golden stars on the ground. A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. In their entire lives, they had never seen so much gold.
Ravens didn’t look down. He kept his eyes fixed on Su Ye and said slowly, “Kneel! Pick up each coin one by one, lick it clean with your tongue, and hand it to me.” A wave of snickers rippled through the crowd.
Su Ye didn’t move.
“It seems you’ve forgotten the lesson from this afternoon!” Ravens lightly flexed his wrist.
Su Ye’s face was utterly calm. “I just want the IOU. If you don’t have it, I’ll go to the temple of Themis, the goddess of justice, and the temple of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, right now. If I remember correctly, there are two great gods’ names on that IOU. Unless you want to commit blasphemy.”
“Shut up!” the men behind Ravens yelled in unison.
Ravens looked at Su Ye for a full thirty seconds before he said, “There’s still a 100 Golden Eagle interest fee.”
Su Ye held out his right hand. Hark unhooked another money bag and placed it in Su Ye’s hand. Su Ye untied it and, with a flick of his wrist, a second golden waterfall cascaded down. The clinking sound was particularly pleasant in the silent night.
The coins looked like stars falling to the ground, stained golden by fire. At their feet, the flickering firelight and golden light of the coins reflected in everyone’s eyes, like the entrance to a treasure.
“You can lick these,” Su Ye retorted.
“Insolent!”
“You’re dead!”
“I’ll break his legs in a minute!”
“You worthless bastard!” Kolo shouted loudly.
Ravens raised a hand, stopping his men from shouting. “It’s not enough,” Ravens said.
“I’ll give you one more chance,” Su Ye said, a slight curl to his lips.
Ravens replied, “It has nothing to do with the gods. I also need a storage fee for the IOU.”
Su Ye nodded, turned his head, and said, “Mr. Hark, some of Ravens’ men are carrying illegal curved blades. What should the city guards do if they find out?”
Hark slowly raised his right hand, his thumb and middle finger snapping together. Pop! The crisp sound echoed across the intersection.
“How dare you carry illegal curved blades! You have no respect for us city guards!” Two excited young men holding short swords pushed their way out of the crowd. “Drop your blades!” They unceremoniously pointed their swords at Ravens and his men. The two men were young but exuded a powerful aura; they were both warhttps://orangenuna.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/woman-traveling-in-france-2023-11-27-05-16-47-utc_Easy-Resize.com_.jpgr apprentices, far stronger than ordinary people.
Ravens’ men looked at him hesitantly. Ravens looked at Su Ye, then at Hark, and finally at the two soldiers.
“I just had a drink with Captain Lukos yesterday,” Ravens said, forcing a friendly smile.
One of the soldiers hesitated, but the other, a taller one, said gruffly, “Captain Lukos? I don’t know him! Drop your blades immediately, or I’ll blow my whistle right now!” With that, the tall soldier put a wooden whistle in his mouth and slowly puffed out his cheeks to inhale.
Ravens’ men instinctively took a step back. Once that whistle was blown, someone would be held responsible, but it certainly wouldn’t be this soldier.
A flicker of anger crossed Ravens’ face, and the “centipede” scar instantly turned red. He said slowly, “Hark, is this Mr. Kelton’s order, or is it your idea?”
“Mine,” Hark answered succinctly.
Ravens was stunned, his face growing even angrier. He said, “Put down your long metal weapons.”
The sound of metal hitting the ground rang out as half of Ravens’ men were disarmed. The tall soldier put away his whistle, blew a single note, and bent down to pick up the weapons. This was easy money.
After the tall man had bound all the weapons, Su Ye suddenly pointed to Kolo at the tavern entrance. “My friends in the city guard, this man named Kolo is the one who cut my neck with his curved blade at my house today.”
“Hmph!” Hark snorted suddenly.
The tall soldier seemed to have received a command. He dropped the weapons, walked around Ravens, and grabbed Kolo by the scruff of his neck, holding him up like a small chicken in front of Su Ye.
Ravens suppressed his rage and said, “Soldier, you’re being too rash.”
“Why else would I be here?” The tall soldier grinned, proudly tapped his left chest with his right fist, and looked at Ravens with disdain.
Ravens’ face turned ashen. The faces of all his men changed slightly. This was the salute of a hoplite! It meant that this soldier had at least one hoplite in his family. In Greece, hoplites had become the backbone of society, and even nobles were wary of them. It could even be said that the foundation of all powerful Greek city-states was the hoplite. An ordinary city guard was not scary, but any single hoplite had countless fellow soldiers.
Ravens looked at Hark. Hark had been a hoplite and could be again if he wanted to. Ravens didn’t move. A hoplite’s hatred for a band of thieves was greater than their hatred for an enemy city-state, or even for Nordics, Egyptians, and Persians.
The tall soldier placed his right hand on Kolo’s head, a cruel smile on his face, and pushed his head down viciously. Kolo’s body went limp, and he fell heavily to his knees.
“Mr. Ravens… help me…” Kolo panicked.
“You should have thought of this moment when you drew your blade,” Ravens’ dismissive voice was like a sword piercing Kolo’s heart.
“I…” He was about to speak, but his expression changed, and he quickly shut his mouth. He turned his head desperately to Su Ye and said, “Young Master Su Ye…”
What awaited him was a heavy right hook from Su Ye. Thud! Kolo fell sideways to the ground, seeing stars, unable to tell the difference between the cosmos and the coins.
“I’m so…” Kolo’s voice cut off. Everyone watched as Su Ye bent down, his right fist like a sledgehammer, and relentlessly pounded Kolo’s face, one punch after another.
Punch after punch. Even as spatters of blood flew into his eyes, painting the world red, Su Ye didn’t stop. Kolo’s blood slowly seeped out, staining the gold coins a new color. At first, Kolo screamed in agony, but slowly, his cries became fainter and fainter.
“You’re more impulsive than I am! Haha…” The tall soldier laughed and grabbed Su Ye’s right arm.
Su Ye stood up slowly, breathing heavily. “Thank you,” he said.
The tall soldier grinned and said, “Everyone in this tavern is scum! They all deserve to die! But if they really die, you’ll be in a bit of trouble. We’ll just drag this suspected thief carrying an illegal weapon back. If he dies on the way, it’s not on you.” With that, the tall man bent down, grabbed Kolo’s ankles, and, like he was carrying a large ham, dragged him to a spot behind Hark.
Ravens’ men couldn’t believe their eyes. Ravens had been valuing Kolo highly lately, but now, Kolo was being beaten to the brink of death right in front of him, and Ravens didn’t dare to make a move. Ravens stared fixedly at Su Ye.
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