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All the Bulgarians we had in front of us vanished quickly. They broke camp and left immediately. When we checked what they'd abandoned, it wasn't much—just a couple of tools, some food, and little else. I would have liked to take their horses, but still, we had survived a three-to-one fight without casualties—only one wounded man. There were several cases of arrow bruises, but nothing serious; the armor prevented anything worse, except for our crybaby, Lysander.
He had taken an arrow to the thigh, and over the following days we treated the wound with some ointments I had and others that were recommended to me, supposedly good for that kind of injury.
With the Bulgarians gone and no immediate enemies, the tourmarches only sent us supplies. He congratulated me on the defense and said he would inform the strategos of my conduct, also making it clear that all the loot we had obtained was mine.
By the final days of June 825, another shipment arrived from my forge: two steel mail shirts, three swords, and five crossbows. The problem was that I had no one managing the gold—no one could read—so later I would have to do inventory myself and pray nothing had been stolen while I was gone. Even so, from a single battle we had gained a considerable amount of loot.
Thirty lamellar armors, sixty iron mail shirts, around sixty pairs of mail gloves, and a pile of extra equipment I couldn't immediately use. If I recruited more men, I had reserves. Much of the equipment was dented or damaged, but it could be repaired. During that time I brought an anvil and tools and taught my men to maintain their own gear: how to straighten dents, link and rivet rings in torn mail, and sew rips in their clothing with needle and thread.
In equipment alone I had gained around three hundred gold coins—not insignificant, considering I made about two hundred in a month of hard work at the forge. Mercenary life was quite profitable… and it would have been even more so if we'd been able to loot all the dead. Those with the best armor, who formed the vanguard, were the first to be recovered by their own men, so the true value of the battle could easily have been double or triple.
I could sell the swords, but now almost everyone had one at their belt, so my mercenary company was well equipped—or almost. There were still some who lacked enough gear to truly be considered fully armed.
We had around forty Bulgarian prisoners. I sent them to the tourmarches, who told me I would be paid for them, since prisoners were handled directly by the strategos when they were part of a Bulgarian noble's retinue—they were useful for exchanges to recover captured tagmata troops, and we would be paid once the exchanges took place, assuming the prisoners survived. Many had severe burns that were already showing signs of infection.
If we captured someone of no value, we could sell them in the Empire's slave markets, as long as they were pagans and not Christians. Other than that, Bulgarians were—quite literally—walking sacks of gold.
But for now we had orders to remain where we were until the situation was resolved, since a large number of Bulgarians were concentrated along the frontier.
"No… wrong… it has to be like this—what you're writing makes no sense," I said while teaching Lysander how to write, as he filled the dirt with pure nonsense.
"I still don't understand it… and why do we have to do it on the ground? Isn't ink and papyrus used?" Lysander complained, scratching crooked words into the soil.
"Do you know how damn expensive ink and papyrus are, huh? More than what I pay you. So stop complaining, because I'm teaching you how to read and write. Do you think this privilege is taught to just anyone?" I said, continuing to use a stick to teach him written Greek vocabulary.
"You made me sign a contract with a fine of one hundred nomismata if I stop serving you for any reason," he said angrily.
"Oh, that's just insurance so you don't run off once I teach you. Let's say I speak from experience… the moment I learned to read and write, I escaped from where the Bulgarians had me captive. So it's a small price you have to suffer to become literate," I said, placing the stick back in his hands.
"I don't know why I listened to you and signed before even reading what it was," he said dejectedly.
"Best decision of your life, honestly. Once you learn to read and write properly, you'll be handling all the work of paying wages instead of me having to do it," I replied with a smile. "You spelled your name wrong," I added, pointing at it.
"Oh yes, more work… especially with this terrible pain in my leg," Lysander said, making a move to scratch it.
I struck his hand with another stick.
"Don't scratch it, idiot, or the wound won't heal properly. Finish the next sentence and then go change the bandages, because it hasn't gotten infected yet, so you need to take maximum care of it," I said with a smile.
"Hey… that hurt," he said, touching his hand. "But at least you'll pay me more…" he added as he wrote the sentence correctly this time.
"Of course. It would be ridiculous to teach you a skill and not pay you more… or… I could charge you for teaching you," I said, staring at him.
"Uh… I didn't… ask for this… I just obeyed because I'm injured," Lysander said, clearly worried about his pay.
"Ha… ha… I'm joking… or was I?" I said with a grin. "If you learn the basics and a bookkeeping system, I'll pay you one nomisma a month, so I suppose you have a strong interest in learning."
"Oh, now we're talking… can you imagine what I could buy with that?" he said excitedly.
"Like leg protection?" I said, looking at his bandaged thigh.
"Oh… very funny, Kapetanios… I would've liked to have something like that… but my Kapetanios never gave me anything to protect myself," Lysander shot back.
"Ha… do you know how much I've spent to make sure you're as safe as possible and don't die in the first fight?… more than six hundred nomismata…"
Lysander's face went pale.
"Yes, you heard that right… six hundred gold coins so you'd all have the best equipment possible. But you know… I'm not made of gold, and everything is expensive… and now all I can think about are all those Bulgarians we could have stripped of their gear and who got away," I said with a hint of resignation.
"Damn… that's expensive…" Lysander muttered as he finished the sentence in the dirt.
"Yeah, but it doesn't matter… now keep practicing the words and we'll see if I can get you a book someday… which must cost a fortune as well," I said, dragging my foot across the ground to erase everything he had written.
Life in the camp continued as usual—fortifying the area until it resembled a properly defended encampment, and sending men out to fetch water while we lived off the supplies sent by the Tourmarches, since the Bulgarians still had a strong presence in the region.
As dusk began to fall, we noticed a large cavalry contingent approaching along one of the local roads, attempting to cross the pass we controlled from the hill. Peering out from one of our observation posts, I saw they carried the Imperial banner—our own.
When they drew closer, they stopped at the foot of the hill and observed us, until a group dismounted and began climbing on foot.
I immediately recognized the strategos's armor as he ascended the hill, surveying the camp, and I left the observation post to receive him.
"My strategos," I said, removing my helmet as I faced the commander of the Imperial forces in the area.
"Kapetanios… Basil," he said after whistling in approval while surveying my camp. "I'm not surprised the Bulgarians were repelled… what a fine position you found. If things calm down, I may leave a permanent garrison here," the strategos said as he entered the camp, taking in the view.
He moved forward, then stopped and spread his arms, staring at me in disbelief.
"Hey… what the hell? This camp is better than the ones my own men put together…" he said with a short laugh. "Latrines… tents… a cooking area… a field forge… ah, and the river… not too far away… have you read the Strategikon?" the strategos asked, clearly intrigued.
"I've heard of it, but I've never had the fortune of holding one in my hands… even if I can read, you understand that a book like that—besides being rare—is expensive… so I hope to read it someday," I replied with a faint, crooked smile.
"Seriously?… Well then… remind me to lend you my copy… if you make it out of this alive… ha… ha… ha…" the strategos laughed, glancing at my men as they ate. "What's with those Bulgarians?" he added, pointing at their Bulgarian-made armor.
"It's what we had on hand," I said with a shrug.
"Smart. Truly… Basil… have you considered joining the thema instead of remaining a mercenary? You've got more potential than most of my men, and I've seen real talent. I can give you the rank of kentarchos immediately. You already have the men—I can give them thema contracts, and I can pay you for all the equipment you brought to arm them," the strategos said, leaning against one of the stake walls.
"Unless you're offering me a position as tourmarches, no. I won't tolerate taking orders from Grigor," I replied at once.
"Ambitious, I see… I can't offer you that. A kentarchos is one thing, but if I suddenly take a mercenary and give him such a high post… I'd end up with a knife in my back," the strategos said.
"Then there's nothing that would motivate me to abandon mercenary life," I replied.
"A shame… well, regardless… the Bulgarians are calming down a bit. They've attacked several of our camps because they've had problems with their harvests and are realizing they're facing a small famine, so they're trying to raid granaries or steal livestock… don't be surprised if more Bulgarians show up. In fact… if you want, you can go burn a few nearby villages—but if you get caught, I never gave the order," the strategos said, raising his hands.
"Thank you, Strategos Leon… I'll take your words into consideration and see what I can do once my men get used to the weight of their new equipment… I might pay a visit to some Bulgarian villages… I might even supply the slave markets of Adrianópolis with Bulgarians," I said calmly, gazing toward Bulgarian territory.
"If you find Greeks or Christians in the area, please free them. It's good for morale to know we're at least scoring small victories… in fact, I'll allow you to recruit more men if you recruit them from among the freed captives," the strategos said, patting me on the back.
"I'm broke… I barely have any gold, and now you want me to arm and train half-starved slaves as well… let's hope we find something of value in those villages, or I'll be getting myself into financial trouble," I said, shaking my head.
"That's the spirit, Kapetanios… well, I'm off to check on my Tourmarches. He has a Bulgarian camp of about three thousand in front of him, so he's had it rough and could use a bit of help," the strategos said as he walked out of the camp.
Strategos Leon left with his cavalry retinue, heading west.
"Are we going to attack the Bulgarians?" Lysander asked from nearby, having overheard the conversation.
"Maybe… it seems the Bulgarians are concentrated in one area, and the strategos wants us to carry out a strike that forces them to spread out and divide their forces, to relieve pressure," I said, gesturing as I explained the plan.
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If there are spelling mistakes, please let me know.
Leave a comment; support is always appreciated.
I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see.
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