Galademus' slave then reminded him about the Praetor of Naxos, Stromboli's, invitation to a dinner tonight.
After remembering it, he hurriedly called a wagon and rushed to Naxos as fast as possible.
Using the road between Megalos and Naxos, Galademus took only 20 minutes to arrive at the praetor's residence.
Galademus then followed the slave and entered the living room, where a kline, wooden chairs and dining tables were set, and candles illuminated the living room very brightly.
“Milord, I apologise for my lateness!” Galademus bowed and apologised at the approaching Stromboli.
“You're rather early; Theokases would come later.” Stromboli welcomed him. He then said to relieve him, “I didn't call outsiders tonight, so there is no need to restrain yourself. Just treat this place as your home as it's just a gathering of us three Amendolarans.”
“Alright.” Answered Galademus.
“You can choose if you prefer sitting on the kline or the chair.” Said Stromboli as he sat down in the middle of the kline.
Seeing Galademus choose a chair to sit down on, Stromboli patted the cushion beside him and said, “It has been more than ten years since his majesty and Herpus promoted that eating while sitting on a chair is beneficial to one's health. However, I still prefer laying on a kline.”
Galademus hurriedly said, “Our people in Amendolara often say that it is only you, milord, that still upholds Amendolara's tradition.”
“Don't they often talk behind my back for being too conservative?” Stromboli responded.
Galademus scrambled to explain, but Stromboli waved his hand and smiled, “Unlike what they say about my head as rigid as a stone, I would accept it as long as it is something good. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to manage a city that is hundreds of kilometres away from Amendolara today. With tremendous changes in Magna Graecia over the past ten years, it would be impossible if people couldn’t adapt…” Said Stromboli while reflecting on the past.
Seeing Galademus just listening attentively, Stromboli was satisfied with his behaviour. Then he gestured to the slave standing by the door and said, “Start serving.”
Galademus became surprised, “Milord, aren't we going to wait for Theokases?”
“Unlike you, he often comes here and treats this place like his own, so there is no need for you to worry about him.”
Theokases had come to Naxos with Stromboli a year before Galademus. And as a constable*, Theokases was under Stromboli's direct command as an important arm of the praetor in governing the city. Thus it is only natural for their relationship to be much closer than Galademus. (Constable is a new position after the establishment of the kingdom of Theonia, and its predecessor is the patrol captain. Davos had raised the level of this originally low-level position so that it could play a greater role in maintaining order in the city.)
Then the slaves began bringing the prepared dishes: There were dried fruits, such as almonds, figs, pistachios, dates…fresh fruits, such as pomegranates, peaches, plums…meat, such as steamed pork soup, roasted lamb, chicken tender…there was also seafood, such as baked cod, steamed oysters…and of course wine, beer, and squeezed watermelon juice. After a while, food had filled the table.
Galademus could only stare in a daze and couldn't help but say, “Isn't this too extravagant?!”
“Tonight, we will eat and drink to our heart's content. I even invited a chef from Cheiristoya's Restaurant to cook for us, so I am sure you will be satisfied!” Stromboli laid on his side on the kline with a pleased expression, “I believe some of the food on this table would rarely even appear in his majesty's palace. And since Naxos is closer to Africa…” Stromboli laughed and made another gesture to the slave standing at the door.
Then a slender female slave with a pretty face and slightly dark skin tone came in and sat next to Galademus under the order of Stromboli.
Galademus became nervous that he subconsciously moved to the side.
Seeing this, Stromboli laughed and said, “Galademus, I remember that you haven't gotten married, right?”
“Yes, milord.”
“It's time for you to find a wife! Expand your family's lineage as soon as possible so that your parents could set their minds at ease in Elysium!” Stromboli's words moved Galademus.
“But don't search here in Naxos because your root is in Amendolara. It would be more helpful to your future to try finding an Amendolaran or a daughter of an official in Thurii! When I get back to Thurii, I'll find someone for you…” Stromboli advised earnestly.
“Thank you for your advice and help! I…” Galademus was a bit moved and honestly thought that Stromboli was really thinking of him.
“Alas, there aren't many of us true Amendolarans in the first place! And there are only the two of you serving in Naxos…I still remember when the Lucanians imprisoned us in the Temple of Zeus; at that time, I was beside your father Aesacus when he eventually collapsed from hunger and disease…” Murmured Stromboli while recalling the past.
Galademus' eyes, on the other hand, became slightly red.
“How could I not care about you guys?!” Said Stromboli emotionally, but the atmosphere was unfortunately spoiled by a sudden loud voice from the outside, “You already started eating and drinking without waiting for me!”
With this shout, a burly young man walked into the living room.
“Theokases, quickly sit down. We've been waiting for you.” Stromboli didn't care about the young man's tone of voice and just waved to the slaves to serve him quickly.
“Hey, Gala.” Theokases waved to Galademus and sat down opposite him.
Galademus nodded at him. The two were only relatively familiar with each other even though they were not too far apart in age and were classmates at the school in Thurii. Galademus was an excellent student, while Theokases was unruly, so the two communicated very little; it was only after they became adults that they interacted more, especially after coming to serve in Naxos.
But unlike Galademus, Theokases still had a mother when Davos occupied Amendolara. In the end, his mother remarried like the other widowed Amendolarans. Theokases' adoptive father is Drakos, but they don't have a good relationship as Theokases doesn't recognise his adoptive father. Drakos, on the other hand, was always busy training the soldiers and going to battle, so he hardly cared about him.
At the end of the War in South Italia, Drakos died bravely and became a hero of Theonia. Besides having a statue of him built in the Hall of Valor, King Davos and the statesmen that were former mercenaries began taking care of Drakos' family members, which was hard for Theokases to accept. In the end, Theokases looked for an opportunity to serve in Naxos just to stay away from Drakos' comrades. (The Syracusans called the war ten years ago the ‘War in Magna Graecia’, but the Theonians called it the ‘War in South Italia’ as they fought not only Syracuse but also against Samnites and Taranto.)
As soon as Theokases sat down, he loudly said to Stromboli, “Milord, you must not be partial; I remember someone giving you two Numidian slaves!”
Stromboli laughed and said, “Boy, I knew you would say that. Rest assured, I didn't forget about you.”
Then another female slave entered the room and sat next to Theokases.
Theokases immediately placed his arm around the female slave's wait and asked her name.
Stromboli coughed lightly and asked, “What happened in the city that you came so late?”
“The constable of Purosdemos came in the afternoon asking for instructions. He reported that a registered freeman had come saying his 13-year-old daughter went missing, so he hoped that I could aid him. After learning about the situation, I hurriedly came back to send someone to start the investigation tomorrow.”
Stromboli just nodded as he didn't care about it too much because there were often fights, homicides, disappearances and other cases happening when the new city of Naxos was just established as the place was filled with exiles, freemen, alien races and even the remnants of the Campanian mercenaries. It was only recently that they managed to settle down the situation. Moreover, Stromboli believed Theokases could handle the case with his ability.
Theokases glanced at Galademus and said, “Milord, this matter isn't simple as it has something to do with Ladician's household.”
It startled Stromboli that he put down the wine mug he was about to raise. After making the two female slaves withdraw, Stromboli asked with seriousness, “What evidence did you find?!”
Galademus' mind jolted as he pricked his ears up.
“Ladician had recently hired the freeman to guard the wheat field. And according to the freeman's wife, her daughter went to deliver his food yesterday, but she never returned. While the freeman said that he didn't even see his daughter at all…” Theokases grabbed a plum and continued after taking a bite, “Milord, you should know that Phragres was sent back to Naxos by his father because of his unruly behaviour in Thurii. Moreover, there are numerous rumours about him ‘mistreating the female slaves’ in Naxos, so I suspect this matter has something to do with him!”
As Stromboli ponders, Galademus couldn't help but associate the girl's disappearance with the suspicious thing he encountered in the afternoon, so he immediately interjected, “Milord, I went to Ladician's field to check…”
Theokases immediately shouted after listening to Galademus' recount, “See, even Gala found it suspicious! Milord, give me your order, and I will immediately take someone to search Phragres' house tomorrow!”
Stromboli then said with utmost seriousness while staring at him, “Theokases, you need to correct your impatience. Without conclusive evidence, I won't let you search Ladician's residence just based on mere speculations!”
