"But what is it?" Linley pressed.
Marcus replied, "Previously, Governor Martini received a secret report indicating that the Elder Council of Hermes had not truly converted, but at that time, Martini was busy confiscating the property of your followers and had no time to deal with the Elder Council."
"My followers?" Linley asked, confused.
"Well... most of them were actually fake. Martini targeted wealthy but powerless individuals, framed them as followers of Dionysus, planted a few statues of Dionysus in their homes, and then confiscated their property. Half of the property went to the informants, part to the officials handling the matter, and the rest was taken by Martini, with very little going into the national treasury," Marcus explained.
"Is that money in the governor's mansion now?" Linley continued.
"No, it's not in the governor's mansion. We're also curious about where he put the money," Marcus replied. "He might have converted it into gold bars and had servants take them back to Rome. But in such cases, servants aren't reliable."
Gold bars, being hard currency, could easily tempt a servant to run away and live a wealthy life in a place where no one knew them. If multiple servants were sent to supervise each other, they might conspire and escape together.
The safest way to transport a large amount of gold would be through official channels, with Martini personally overseeing it or having important family members carry the gold bars on a Roman warship back to Rome and hand them over to his relatives.
Such a large-scale operation couldn't be concealed, but Marcus hadn't seen any such action. So, where had the confiscated property gone during this period?
"The members of the Elder Council of Hermes are very wealthy, aren't they?" Linley asked.
"Yes, they're all big merchants, each owning fleets and getting income from the Temple of Hermes," Marcus answered.
"Where are they now?" Linley pressed further.
The most famous member of the Elder Council of Hermes on Crete was the Grand Elder Boris. He lived in a large mansion, second in size only to the governor's mansion. In fact, the governor's mansion originally belonged to Boris, and the nearby church was the Temple of Hermes; the two were originally one entity, so they were built very close to each other.
When Martini came to Crete as governor, he set his sights on the Elder Council of Hermes. Boris immediately offered his mansion to Martini as the governor's mansion and found another place to build a new residence for himself.
Unfortunately, Martini had long since converted to Holiness and would not change his stance for such a small favor. Nero colluded with the Pope, making Holiness the state religion, and launched a massive campaign on Crete, forcing the Elder Council of Hermes to convert, confiscating all the temple's property, and causing the members of the Elder Council to suffer heavy losses.
Arriving at Boris's new residence, its gates were tightly closed and heavily guarded. Dozens of guards armed with bows and arrows were defending the place.
The Romans weren't famous for their archery; they preferred using pila. Pila were not only powerful but also more reliable than bows and arrows given the technology of the time. The maintenance of bows and arrows was relatively complex; the bow's back was easily damaged, and the bowstring needed periodic replacement. Even with proper maintenance, problems could still arise.
But bows and arrows had their own unique perks. Firstly, they could provide sustained firepower. Secondly, their range was longer. In field battles, these advantages might not be very significant, but in siege warfare, the strengths of bows and arrows were fully utilized.
In field battles, there was a saying: "No more than three shots before close combat," meaning that from the time both sides entered range to actual close combat, there was only enough time to shoot two or three arrows. In such situations, the Romans believed that the power and effect of pila were superior to bows and arrows. Pila could penetrate the enemy's shield, making it difficult to use, and each soldier carrying five or six pila was sufficient to throw them all before engaging the enemy.
However, in siege warfare, the defenders could continuously shoot arrows from the walls, potentially firing dozens or hundreds of arrows. If pila were used, they would quickly run out. Therefore, the Romans also equipped some bows and arrows but did not consider them the main force. The situation like Boris's side, which was almost entirely equipped with bows and arrows, was rare.
Turns out, the Romans made the wrong choice in weapons. Later, everyone switched to bows and arrows, and pila were gradually eliminated.
"Don't come any closer, or we'll fire!" a loud shout came from inside.
"Should we charge?" Brutus asked eagerly.
He had two sets of armor on, one in front and one in back, protecting his vital areas. Even if he got hit by an arrow, there was a high chance he wouldn't be injured, and he could quickly attack the gate, thinking it was worth a try.
Linley looked at the thick gate and then at the defenders inside, shaking his head. The gate would take at least a dozen hits to break open, during which dozens of bows could shoot hundreds of arrows. If an arrow hit a vital part, it wouldn't be worth it. Linley only had two S-class potential followers.
He pulled out a slingshot, loaded it with a diamond infused with divine power, and let it fly. One of the archers' heads immediately had a hole and fell down.
The mansion fell silent, and everyone ducked back inside.
After a while, seeing no movement, a few people peeked out again. Linley fired another diamond, killing another archer. This time they didn't dare to show themselves at all. Only then did Linley order the minotaurs, "Charge! Break down the gate."
Dozens of minotaurs charged forward aggressively. Just as they were about to hit the gate, it suddenly opened. Inside, a dozen servants in formal attire welcomed them, and a smiling white-bearded old man said, "Welcome, welcome."
The minotaurs weren't very smart. Their order was to break down the gate, but now that it opened on its own, they didn't know what to do. If the enemy attacked, they could immediately counterattack, but since there was no attack, they felt embarrassed to make the first move. These people were not Holiness's men, and they had no enmity with them.
Linley glanced around, saw the archers had retreated, and stepped forward. "Are you Boris?" he asked.
"Yes, yes, that's me. How are you, Lord Dionysus?" Boris replied seriously.
"Not well at all," Linley said. "Holiness is nearly wiping us out, and you're still so relaxed?"
"Business is business. Even Holiness needs to do business," Boris replied.
"But they've banned the worship of Hermes," Linley said.
"I think you might be mistaken," Boris said.