The sky above John Ducasse was still blue when he set out from Dillakium, and after arriving at the Eastern Military District, the sky never cleared, which inevitably lowered the morale of the troops.

Due to the betrayal of the Serbs, the western army was still unable to recover from the blows of the Norman War, and in the current situation of the depreciation of the old Nomisma, John's only solution was to improve the food of the existing soldiers as much as possible, and he sent for three months' reserve of food, including yogurt, honey, sheep fat, rusks, and spirits from Macedonia. Hay, oats, and salt for the horses were prepared for the expedition, a five-month's supply, which was transported to the fortress of Skorpi in southern Bulgaria by the governor of the fortress of Skopi.

All this was obviously not enough for John personally, for he did not have all the facilities of his governor's palace in Dilakim along the way, and the planks and pillars of the army were not enough to build a special bathhouse, and he felt that he was living a barbarian's life, and that the splendid felt made him itch all over his body, and that parasites afflicted the noble man of Constantinople like leeches.

The only pastime of barracks life was to read his grandfather's letters, and the former Imperial Caesar was now recuperating in Constantinople, and he usually wrote annotations to the writings of his old friend Pocelos at the Imperial University, and because of his bad relationship with the Queen Mother, the leader of the Ducasse family rarely went to the palace, but liked to send people to send all kinds of gifts and thick letters to Little John.

The Emperor's campaign in Nicaea was a complete success, but Caesar the Elder's John Ducasse did not seem to be impressed, and Caesar's letter stated that the prostitutes in the capital knew that the soldiers had not fought until their return, and that the action against Qasim was nothing more than a military demonstration.

The Emperor himself obviously understood this, so he attached great importance to this northern expedition, and for this purpose almost concentrated most of the remaining military resources of the empire, and even the newly rebuilt Varangian Guard had already begun to mobilize.

The gray iron helmets around him looked black in the morning mist, and John couldn't help but think of the battlefield he saw as a child as a hostage in the Lusail Army, the first battle he had personally experienced, and the first time he had seen the Seljuks, the eastern enemies of the Empire.

If Nikephoros Brenus the Elder had witnessed the world before the death of the Martial Saint, his generation grew up almost entirely under the military pressure of nomads, Lusail's defeat was witnessed by John as a child, and last year, the invasion of nomads from the north killed two proud sons of the imperial army in Velyatova, and since the outbreak of war this year, the Pecheneg rebels south of the Danube and the "free" Pecheneg herdsmen in the north have once again joined forces, causing the empire to suffer heavy losses.

Until his arrival in Sedika, the future Imperial Naval Commander John was still worried about the rest of the war, and when he met Scorpius' commander Alexander, he was brought to him by a Cuman mercenary.

"Glorious Supreme, this soldier has information to report to you."

John Ducasse examined the barbarian's peculiar nostrils and the scars on his arms, and nodded to the adjutantant, and the Cumans were given permission to speak.

"I have a gift to offer to your nobles at the behest of my lord." As soon as the Cumans finished speaking, the Latin soldiers, who seemed to have been prepared, dragged a young woman out of the stable, and shouted at her and brought her forward.

"This is the Scythian prisoner we intercepted from the north of the mountain, please take a look."

Despite the dust for many days, Talma, the daughter of Kutaisk, maintained as much dignity as possible as a black-blooded people, her feet almost painfully unable to stand, but she did not say a word, and raised her head boldly like a queen to examine her enemies.

The Roman general in front of her looked even more beautiful than her, with thick curly hair, a golden glow, and carefully selected court treasures adorned her armor like pebbles under water, and the princess of the steppe, who was accustomed to wearing jewelry looted and extorted by her father, obviously could not understand the aesthetic taste of the Roman court, of course, this did not affect her in the slightest to feel ashamed of herself.

John, who did not seem to be aware of the effect he had had had on the captives, was still listening to the Cumans continuing to report on the military situation, and when he heard that Angus was maneuvering with the Magyar cavalry, he immediately turned to the commander Alexander:

"War is coming, and the Empire cannot afford to waste the blood of its warriors lightly - I have decided to take someone with me."

Chief Scorpius was shocked and was about to dissuade him, but he heard the supreme nobleman of the Ducasse family laugh and say:

"Let someone prepare a bath for me, I don't want to go to the battlefield in the stinking air."

As he spoke, John Ducasse walked through a bronze lion and entered the hall without looking back, leaving only one sentence:

"Send me this captive too."

Everyone watched in amazement as the chief disappeared into the gate, but no one dared to remind him that this was the queen's own brother, the grandson of the imperial Caesar, and his needs must be met at any time.

Talma entered the bathhouse with a fragrant rose copper vase, and found the beautiful general slowly emerging from the water with a statue-like figure.

"Do you understand our language?" The man suddenly interrupted her thoughts, "You were listening to us just now, right?" ”

"My ...... My father taught me some Greek. "She lied.

"Oh? A learned savage, interesting. ”

The Supreme Nobleman of the Empire, the prefect of the Dirakim Military Region, raised his head and let the black hair drip with steaming droplets of water downward, and behind him, a marble fountain flowed like a blooming lotus flower.

"Do you have a Greek name?"

"Irina, I made it myself." Tarma didn't dare to look at this man who was not her husband anymore, and replied in a low voice.

John suddenly lowered his upturned face and stared at the Scythian woman in front of him.

"My sister is also called that, do you know who she is?"

"No, I don't know."

"Augusta, Lord of the World, but it may soon be irrelevant." John replied in a chilling mocking tone, he knew better than anyone else the delusion of fame, his birth mother was a dead princess, and if the empire was defeated, Augusta might have to wash the body of the herdsman's daughter in front of him.

Thinking of this, he had a great panic, and in order to hide this, he stood up without warning, and proudly confronted the woman with the same name as his noble sister with a hideous giant.

"Lift up your clothes." John Ducasse had a cruel smile on his face, looking at her peach-like curves.