Chapter 481: Has Already Won

"Frankly speaking…If this question is not being asked by you, I would say that my name is Ioannas, a humble soldier serving the Sanjek. But to you, my answer for my name shall be Anastasios. Yes that is my true name, your highness, don't give me that face. This is just to establish the foundation of trust between the two of us. "
The commander Adrianos found the words of this man to be both shocking and absurd at the same time. He stood up grinning, pat his butt clean of all the hays and asked in a casual tone. "I got to thank you, Mister Ioannas or Mister Anastasios, or lets just put it in simpler terms, Mister Spy. Thank you for willingly surrendering yourself to me just in my time of needs, I shall appreciate your good willing and hand you over to my sovereign. Your name shall be one of my greatest bounty marked on my trophy, I shall make it quick for you…"
Adrianos gave an eerie glee on his face as he reached out for the blade hanging by his side. But instead of showing any sign of fright, the supposed spy before the commander burst out into a series of laughter which in turn creeped the commander off, making him fear that there might be someone lurking around that can hear the conversation and attract unwanted attention. After a while the spy stopped laughing and sighed. "Look at you, commander, has your hands became so weak and fragile that they can be shaking when they are holding that blade of yours? Or… Do you have something else in your mind that is weakening your inner strength?"
Adrianos is caught in a stagger and found it hard to utter a single word in defence of himself.
"Let's be clear between the two of us, commander." The spy walked around the commander like a panther encircling and strangling its prey, with a smile on that face that made him look no different than an ordinary soldier. "I would not have came here to find you myself if I am not entirely sure about your attitude towards your… superior. I know about you, honourable commander, I have studied about you, I have even served under you. And let me clear some misconception you have in your head. I am here to help you, to save your life, not to harm you, commander."
The commander definitely did not believe a single word of what the spy is saying, but still he kept his mouth shut and stared at the man with caution, showing later that he has nothing to say but still he shall not put a single bit of trust in whatever the spy is going to say next.
Seeing this situation, the spy seems to have noticed and interpreted the stern attitude coming from him as he sighed and stepped back. "Fine then, seems like it is hard for me to believe in me… But I am really here to help you… Come, take a look at this, a letter we intercepted along the trails between the frontline and Neapoli. We decided that it is best if we are to have you to take a look at its content."
The spy took out a piece of letter from his pocket and passed it to the commander. After some hesitation the commander still took over the letter and gave it a look. To his shock this yellowish letter has the seal and insignia of the Sanjek, the letter is written in a mixture between Persian and Turkish, and the strong but elegant handwriting on the paper shows that it has been written by a firm hand that has a substantial amount of calligraphical skills. The commander has no problem in reading the language of course, after working for so many years under his lord, and the more he reads it, the more cold sweat started bursting down his back sending him cold shivers again and again facing the wind sipping through the cracks and openings of the stable.
The supposed letter is delivered by the Sanjek to the regional ruler of Kastania, the first part of the letter is still alright briefly saying that the lord should be in charge of safeguarding and allocating the logistics function of transporting the supplies from the back to the warzone. This has already been stated once on the army wide meeting, and the commander knows about this too as he was present. But what came shocking and even terrifying to him is the second part, which mentions that the lord of Kastania should also 'pay very close attention' to all the families of Rumelian officers serving in the army that is residing there, especially him, the commander of the local Epirutian regiment.

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The letter continued to elaborate that if 'things changed' in the frontline, the Sanjek has given the lord of Kastania the 'full right' to make any possible action with the family members to make sure that the local Rumelian officers 'stay loyal' to the Sanjek and the Sultan. There is a special mention on the last part regarding him, saying that his family requires special care and should be moved to Yanya (Ioannina) as soon as possible without delay if he showed signs of disobey.
This piece of letter came as a thunderstrike into the heart and mind of the commander, almost making him collapse onto the ground, as he knows that he has never ever had the thought of betraying his Sanjek, and the Sanjek has claimed to him for multiple times that no action is needed against him as compared to the others to make sure that he stays loyal. But according to this letter, the Sanjek has disagreed with his own words, and also he never proved to be loyal enough in the mind of the Sanjek, or the Sanjek never trusted him in the first place and is only fooling him around by reassuring him again and again.
"the letter is a counterfeit." Adrianos took a deep breathe and calmed himself down. "The Sanjek never writes a letter to anyone who is much lower than his rank and prestige by himself, all of these kinds of letter are being written and delivered by that advisor of his. What you think you  and the group of people behind you are, to dare to counterfeit a letter of the Sanjek?"
"I don't really care whether you believe or not." The spy shrugged his shouldered and tossed out another bit of information. "I do not know why also, but since a few weeks back it seems that he has started to adopt the habit of writing letter by himself.
Then did the commander suddenly remember that the advisor has already been executed for supposedly for corruption and embezzling military funds. He started questioning himself as he looked at the painful words on the letter again to try to make sure that all of these is nothing but merely a coincidence. But again, he failed.
"Whether you believe it or not, the order by your superior has been given, your family has now been placed under maximum level of quarantine with the supervision of nearly fifty Ottoman guards who have been given to charge into your house and capture every single person in the building in case you prove yourself no longer useful in the eyes of the Sanjek." The spy said slowly, making sure that his audience can interpret his speech word by word. "I am not making anything up, I am just simply saying the fact."
Adrianos dropped the paper to the ground and continued looking down at it, failing to notice the quick smirk by the side of the spy's lips. For now, the validity and truth regarding this letter is already no longer important, the commander can question about the credibility of the letter for all day long but surely he cannot go to his Sanjek and question him after knowing the likely situation his family is in, and the fate they are going to face. TO the commander, this letter just seemed to be a mixture of truth and lies which is exactly the reason that made it so hard to differentiate whether it is legit or not, as when there is one lie being mixed into a bunch of other truth it simply makes every single thing looks like a flawless piece of evidence, and that is exactly the effect the spy wanted to achieve, the seeds have been sowed into the heart of the commander, now it is time to wait for it to sprout.
"Let me tell you what, I do not trust this letter, but I am not going to report your espionage activities today either, just go, leave this place, and leave me alone."
Adrianos made a difficult decision, but what he do not know is that since the moment his hearts and minds are shaken, the spy has already won.

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