After Casinos finished speaking, there was a moment of silence below the watchtower.
But soon, the Segestica citizens began whispering among themselves.
"Well said." Maximus praised with a smile.
Casinos showed a complex expression and bowed slightly, but did not speak.
Maximus didn’t mind, he walked to the wooden fence, overlooking the crowd on the bank, waited a moment, then raised his right hand, and the copper horn was immediately sounded.
Once the bank was quiet again, Maximus called out loudly: "People of Segestica, regarding whether to join our Nix Tribe, you have ample time to consider. Now, with so many of you gathered here, it’s already dark, it’s cold at night, and the wind by the river is strong, making it easy to catch a cold or fever, and any disturbance could threaten your lives. For your safety, listen to me carefully! Ahem..."
Maximus cleared his throat and shouted in a gentler voice, "Are any of you injured?!"
No one in the crowd responded.
Maximus called out anxiously: "We have doctors in our team with excellent medical skills, they have even studied with Emmerich Sage, they will surely treat your wounded well and strive to restore him to health! If any of you are injured, speak up quickly, if you delay, it will harm your own body!"
Still, no one in the crowd responded, but they began whispering again: "Is he talking about Emmerich?"
"He should be, wasn’t Emmerich following Wallis to the Kupa River a few years ago? The Nix people occupied there, he might have joined them too."
"Even Emmerich joined the Nix, maybe what this Nix person said is credible..."
"Don’t forget, Emmerich is a Skodisqi, he is not to be trusted!"
"But he really cured many of our tribe’s diseases!"
At this moment, a Nix soldier suddenly shouted loudly from the edge of the crowd: "Tamosis, I just saw it, your leg is injured, bleeding heavily, what are you hesitating for! If you delay further, do you want your wife to lose her husband and your child their father?!"
Soon, a trembling voice echoed from not far in the crowd: "I...my leg is injured..." As the voice spoke, the surrounding people squeezed away a bit, revealing a small gap, showing a pale-faced man sitting on the ground, his wife and child holding him tensely, and a pool of blood on the ground...
Maximus, on the watchtower, pointed to the soldier who just spoke, and loudly asked: "What’s your name?!"
"Leader, are you talking about me?"
"My name is Sethonos, leader!"
"Which Centurion are you in?"
"The Third Legion, Third Battalion, Fourth Centurion."
"I now appoint you as the temporary Segestica Wounded Transport Captain, the Third Battalion, Fourth Centurion will assist you in taking all the wounded Segestica citizens to our medical team for treatment, you can also choose some Segestica recruits to help you complete this task, do you understand?!"
"Under...understood!" Sethonos was so excited he could hardly control himself; he had called out just to catch Maximus’s attention, and now he had succeeded!
"Did the soldiers of the Third Battalion, Fourth Centurion understand?!"
"Understood!!" The soldiers of the Fourth Centurion responded in unison.
"Then hurry up and get started!" Maximus shouted, waving his hand.
"Come, come, everyone make way, let us bring out the injured Tamosis..." With Sethonos’ persuasion, the Segestica people hesitantly made a narrow path.
Sethonos carefully carried Tamosis with his comrades, taking him out of the crowd, with Tamosis’s wife and child following closely behind.
By this time, the Medical Team’s doctors and nurses had received the notice and reached the outskirts of the Third Legion formation, immediately assessing the injury, applying pressure, stopping the bleeding, cleaning the wound, bandaging, and then having the soldiers carry the injured to the temporary base set up in the village by the medical team...
All of this was seen by the surrounding Segestica citizens, word spread from one to ten, ten to a hundred, and their looks toward the Nix people were no longer so frightened or hateful, but filled with curiosity and confusion...
So when Maximus asked again, "Is there anyone else injured?" responses echoed from all directions in the crowd.
Tamosis and his comrades kept busy, bringing the injured out for treatment.
Eventually, Maximus noticed that the Segestica citizens not only actively made way for them but also helped carry the patients, easing the tension between the Nix soldiers and the Segestica refugees.
Once all the wounded had been carried away, Maximus again shouted: "People of Segestica, it is very late now, you must be very tired, and surely very hungry, I have two suggestions for you! First, those who live in this village and nearby can go home to rest now; second, those who live farther away may have difficulty returning home tonight, you can choose to stay here, I will have the soldiers find a place for you to sleep tonight in the village, and even make you some food, fill your bellies, and leave tomorrow...what do you think?!"
The bank went silent, the Segestica people looked at each other, feeling very surprised, finally someone couldn’t hold back, raised their head, and shouted: "You...will really let us leave?!"
"Of course!" Maximus answered categorically, simultaneously raising his right hand: "I can swear to the Goddess Danu, if I am lying, I will be punished by Her!"
Maximus’s words were like a stone thrown into a pond, causing ripples: "You will really find us a place to sleep?!"
"You will really give us food?!"
"My child at home is not yet a year old, can we have some goat milk?!"
"Of course!...Of course!...Of course!..." Maximus continued to respond loudly.
"Excuse me...can we now...join the Nix?!" someone nervously shouted from the crowd.
"Of course!" Maximus smiled, responding even louder: "The sooner you join the Nix Tribe, the sooner you become official tribe members with fifty acres of land!"
"Then...I...I also want to join the Nix now!"
With someone taking the lead, some Segestica citizens cast aside hesitation and reserve, shouting out.
Maximus had to signal backward, and the copper horn was blown once more.
"Everyone, don’t rush, let’s handle things one by one!" Maximus shouted loudly: "Commander Camillus!"
"Have the soldiers make way and maintain order, those who want to go home can leave now!"
"...Yes!" Camillus acknowledged the order, first dispatching a team of soldiers to stand on either side of the road leading from the floating bridge to the West Gate, only then letting soldiers make a path wide enough for three people to walk side by side.
"Those who want to go home can leave now, but don’t rush, walk steadily towards that way!..." Maximus shouted while pointing in the direction of the exit from the watchtower.
Under Maximus’s repetitive reminders, the crowded people began to move slowly...
When no more people came out of the passage, less than half of the people remained on the bank.
Maximus didn’t know how long he had stood on the watchtower, his legs were somewhat numb, another wave of drowsiness hit him, yet he continued to persist, shouting: "Valerius!...Crossbow Soldier Team Captain Valerius!"
"Ah...ah... Leader... I’m here!" Valerius, who led the Crossbow Soldier Team, was stationed at the rear of the Third Legion formation, in case of a major riot, they could assist the Third Legion in suppression.
Due to Maximus’s actions, the surrounded Segestica citizens remained calm, Valerius, being elderly, after a whole day of marching, his body couldn’t hold up, he had fallen into a deep sleep leaning against the wall of a house by the road and was hastily woken up by his subordinates.
Maximus, overlooking Valerius rubbing his eyes hard downstairs, apologized: "Valerius, I know you are very tired now, but I need your help, would you consider accepting my order?"
To maintain the initiative in this war against the Pannonians, Maximus led the army in constant rapid movement, which resulted in him penetrating deeply into the Segestica Territory with the Third Legion as the main force, even Quintus, Flanitnus, and other Military Department officials did not follow, let alone officials from the Agricultural Department and Public Works Department; consequently, now that he needed their ability, Maximus had no one available around him.
However, he quickly thought of Valerius. In the past, Valerius was unnoticed, and Maximus only knew of him but did not know him well.
But when Valerius became the Crossbow Soldier Team Captain and performed calmly and outstandingly in a battle on the Kolana River’s east bank hills, he immediately caught Maximus’s attention, leading to a special conversation, where Maximus learned that Valerius was originally a slave who gained freedom by saving his master’s life unintentionally, then joined the Roman Army, served for thirty years in various roles such as coachman, duty soldier, lightly equipped auxiliary soldier, copper horn player, legion soldier, centurion, and even centurion, and later, as he aged, he transitioned to logistical roles like Military Equipment Guardian, geodetic team member, actuarial accountant, and Assistant Deputy Officer, practically having done all the low-level jobs in the Roman Army, making him a small encyclopedia of the Roman Army, astonishing Maximus, who also regretted knowing him too late.