act48side

No.

Just as I was about to smash in the head of that Sargonian with my weapon, my friend stopped me, while the bugles cried out.

You never told me the campaign you experienced was...

The final battle before Minos and Sargon signed a ceasefire. Minos, which had lost for a hundred years,

hah, had finally won.

That friend of mine desperately held back my hand. He had a broken leg, yet he could still bring such strength to bear to rein me in.

I turned, and saw his face full of tears, and his eyes full of fear... Not towards the Sargonians, but towards me.

I knew what he was so afraid of.

He was afraid I would destroy this hard-won 'peace'. He was afraid I would bring about new conflict, that I would extend this cruel war. He was afraid he would become like Ithakos, forever unable to return home.

My pent-up rage and grief had nowhere to go. All I could do was watch that Sargonian officer kneel on the ground, numbly listening to the bugles. The same numbness I felt...

It was that moment I knew the war will rage on in our bodies. It had begun, and it could never end.

You are right. The Minos in my heart no longer exists. It died on the battlefield many years ago, alongside the Ithakoses.

But I will not allow the enemy to defile our land again. Not even if they had built this city.

'Not even if they had built this city'... So, even the textbooks say that nowadays?

What do you mean?

Ithakos went to your village, so full of passion, unlike me. He must have taught you many building techniques.

Indeed. He renovated nearly every important building in the village.

His techniques were passed down from his ancestors. During the occupation, my own grandfather was pressed into service by the Sargonians to build the nomadic cities, thanks to his mastery of engineering.

What?

The mobility layer of this Athenius might just be his handiwork.

Forgive me, I was far too rude to you earlier. I...

Do not bow your head for that, boy.

I am not the engineer who built the nomadic cities, I don't have proof of how much our ancestors toiled building Athenius. All that data was taken away by the Sargonians.

The Sargonians wanted the Minoan engineers' data... but why?

An engineer's notes will always have something more than just jargon and modification blueprints.

He had to keep track of the quantities of building materials, while coordinating transport and construction teams, so he was a meticulous planner of manpower, and remembered the names of every worker.

Not Sargonian workers, but the names of those from Minos, and where they came from, and how the Sargonians forced them to do their bidding.

Minoan workers? As I recall, current mainstream thinking is that Padishah Malla did not use any Minoan workers for heavy labor while the Three Poleis were being built.

Do you mean to say...?

History was not written by us, not even our final victory.

But there is evidence of wrongdoing, evidence that should be shared with the public. Do you remember where these engineer's notes are?

How should I know? Ask the Sargonians... Ah, but those Sargonians are probably dead by now, haha...

Ask the Sargonians... The construction of the Three Poleis...

No!

What is it, Master?

The Sargonian mission is not using the exchange to obtain technical data, but rather, the notes detailing proof of the Sargonians' sins!