Herald of Steel

Although very rudimentary, Zanzan and Adhania did have some health standards for inns and restaurants.

For example- it was forbidden to reheat meat dishes because it was thought to be unlucky and a cause of disease. It was also illegal to serve fish with milk, or have certain fruits paired with certain dishes.

It was also banned to serve fruits on metal containers and wine in golden utensils, among some other mundane laws.

Admittedly it was not much when compared to the modern regulations, and even the laws that existed were many times quite foolish and full of superstition, which was one of the reasons it was hardly enforced.

But still, it did not take a long genius to figure out that selling the kind of meat that was on display here should be grossly illegal.

Alexander was honestly half impressed that these people had the guts to sell these out in the open, and even advertise it as coming from his manor house. He certainly had no such farm of livestock within his manor.

The claim was so ridiculous in fact that it actually caught him a bit off guard at first,

"The lord? Which lord?" He thus genuinely asked the buck teeth stall owner, thinking he was talking about some other nearby noble.

"Hehehe, of course it is the lord of these lands, Pasha Alexander, ruler of Zanzan!"

But that hopeful interpretation was instantly bulldozed with a toothy grin, as the stall owner failed to recognize Alexander in his plane clothes.

He could tell he was dealing with a very rich man, the quality and colorful 'commoner' clothes he wore were definitely not common. Not to mention there was a large number of guards following him, armed with swords and shields.

But although uncommon, such an entourage was definitely not unheard of in this shady part of the town.

Nobles and other rich folks frequented this part of the city given the various 'special' establishments here, especially as the services tended to become more and more 'specialized' the further one went towards the shadier and more lawless portions of the city.

Now admittedly these esteemed guests were not as pomp or open as the man before him, but still, it would be quite the leap for the merchant to directly jump to the conclusion he was dealing with the Pasha of the lands just from this.

Hardly anyone knew Alexander's by face.

Hence he remained completely oblivious to the impending danger and rather confidently boasted,

"It seems esteemed customer is not from here! Everyone here knows old Kalo is friends with the manor's steward. He directly sells the leftover meats to me. Hehehe, as you can imagine, even those scraps the lords throw away are like gems to us. Here, don't believe me, taste it for yourself, this is in the house!"

Alexander most definitely did not accept the meat and vegetable skewer shoved on his way, both because of its unappetizing look and the slight rising anger.

The steward of his house was Mean, and he knew for certain that she did not do any of the described things.

Whatever leftovers there were from his meals were given to the servants and guards, while the scraps were fed to the nearby animals.

And his anger also quickly transferred to his bodyguards, who were just waiting for Alexander's order to beat the man to an inch of his life.

In fact, the only reason why they had not barked out angry shouts to counter this slander was because there were a couple of times before they had done so, rebuking fraudulent merchants for trying to sell some faulty goods to Alexander, forcing the pasha to order them to not act without his order next time.

Staying quite let Alexander fish for more information.

...

Alexander would ultimately not punish the stall owner for his tall tales, finding it beneath him to expose the man.

Not to mention, he was one among tens of such players, so what would be the point?

Hence rather than causing a scene and souring the experience of all the surrounding people enjoying their rest after work, he left the meat stall after buying a few samples of the 'meat' as a courtesy for the man's time.

It was only once they were in a clearing out of earshot that he revealed his true emotion, turning to face Cyrus with a glare.

"My… my lord... I … I," The large man instantly cowered under Alexander's angry glare, his teeth chattering.

It did not take a smart person to imagine why Alexander was giving him such a gaze, and initially, the magistrate wanted to explain himself.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

But unable to find a good excuse on the spot, suddenly, as if giving up on himself, Cyrus simply lowered his head and confessed, "I know I am wrong. Please punish me."

After being beaten down by his family many times, the man had developed a keen sense of when to fight, and when to just give up and stop aggravating the situation.

His only hope now was that Alexander would take mercy on him after a few 'beatings'.

Alexander coldly charged with a heavy pause,

"..... If you know you are wrong, then why have these shops not been closed? Look at these prices? How can anyone sell real meat at these prices and still make a profit! Are you telling me you have no idea what kind of meat they are selling? Anyone is sure to get sick eating them! Do you not care about the people's health?"

Cyrus only recoiled further in horror facing the angry Alexander.

Experience more on empire

But fortunately, he had yet to lose his vocal faculties.

Thus pressing his large, chubby hands together, he pleaded with almost an alarming cry,

"My.. my lord, please calm down. Look… look at all the stalls around you. There are so many of them. Where will we find the people to catch them all? An… and we once tried to close a few, but the people here all together protested. Even some soldiers and military officials got involved! We dared not touch them afterward!"

That last addition quickly intrigued Alexander.

He did not know about this till now- perhaps it was because it happened while he was away in the Caira campaign, or perhaps the incident was too small to reach his ears, but given it involved the army, he rapidly perked up his ears, generating the great interest in the event.

"Soldiers and officers? What were they doing here? Did they pressure you? Why didn't you report this to me till now?"

Cyrus shivered even more facing the frowning man, his fatty lips quivering,

"No… no! Nothing like that my lord! They were simply there eating when we started the bust. They surrounded me and my few guards and told us to scamper and not ever bother with the things here."

"And you listened to them just like this?" Alexander angrily sneered at the poor excuse, anger lighting up his eyes, "I do not know you worked for them! When did you start?"

"..." The rotund man once again flushed in fear and shame at the disdainful barb, lowering his head in silence.

Now, the actual reason why Cyrus did not bother to report to Alexander was because in his mind, this was not big a deal.

As said earlier, health standards did not really exist at this time.

So to him, things here looked quite normal.

Yes, the meat being served was of low quality and hygiene was poor to say the least, but this was the norm here.

These items were meant for the common folk, and this was what they all normally ate.

How else would be able to afford such delicacies with their meager incomes of just a few ropals a day?

Thus it could be seen that the man's outlook towards the whole thing was completely different than Alexander's, and in the context of the times, it could even be said that it was Alexander who was being unreasonable and too nosy.

In fact, Cyrus's decision to poke this beehive in the first place came largely due to his loyalty to Alexander.

He tried to follow the law to the letter while the rest of the magistrates did not even bother with this section of the city.

But Cyrus was not the most eloquent of men and found it hard to properly present his case in front of the fuming Alexander.

Thus instead of simply showing his difficulties and trying to correct Alexander's expectations, the man a bit foolishly actually tried to defend the stalls, claiming in a soft tone,

"My lord, the simple truth is people want to eat meat. And this is the only place they can afford to have it every day! Just 1 ropal will get you a good, thick couple of pieces dipped in spiced curry and sliced cucumbers. I dare say there is nowhere in the whole world that can beat that price. The place is too popular! We…"

The large man subconsciously licked his lips as he trailed off, proving he too was an occasional visitor here.

And unfortunately for him, Alexander was keen enough to notice this, which immediately ticked him off.

Not to mention how disgusting the ingredients here were, there was a clear conflict of interest.

"Meat! You call this meat?"

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