"You know how dirty the Nabuks play! They'll unleash their hired dogs on you if you walk around the city so relaxed while your wounds haven't fully healed yet! At least don't walk around without two warriors!"

Kaelyra had been scolding Corvus for ten minutes straight. Corvus knew that whatever he said was empty, so he kept silent and waited for Kaelyra's scolding to end. "And why didn't you go to the army camp? You need to organise and deal with Varek Nabuk's forces. Make sure you're here before sundown. Grandfather wants to talk to you," she finished his scolding. Not once during her speech did she turn to look at Belisarius.

Belisarus and Corvus headed to the camp with a few guards. 'I didn't know a human being could scold another human being for so long,' Belisarius said. He seemed to be joking, but he was truly amazed. "What makes you think she's human? She's a devil!" these words made the duo laugh. "You just said you had business in the camp. What business do you have?" asked Belisarius.

"Do you remember the match I fought last night? The winner of those fights takes everything that belongs to his opponent. And by everything, we don't mean kidnapping their kids or anything like that. Weapons, armour, money, and most importantly, soldiers." Realising that Belisarius was genuinely interested in the subject, Corvus continued. "Of course, unless you really hate your opponent, you don't go and throw your opponent out of their house. But it is important to have a claim on the soldiers. Not everyone in the Rhazgord has the right to join the battle. You have to be chosen by someone who has the right to be a Sharazir."

What Corvus was about to say made him proud, so he puffed out his chest. Making a fist and pointing to himself with the thumb of his left hand, he said, 'It is not easy to be a Sharazir like me. The only Sharazir at my age is my grandfather, Magnor Tiamat, the most powerful of the Sanguinar." Corvus seemed quite happy with this situation. Belisarius did not know what 'Sharazir' meant. It was a word in the Rhazgord language.

"The shamans of Mount Rhaz carve the names of the city's most powerful on the rocks. Those who get on the list are entitled to have soldiers under their command. Those who make the list but are at the lower ranks are called Sharazir. Sanguinar, the man at the top of the list, decides how many people can enter the list. As you can imagine, having hundreds of commanders can disrupt the order and organisation of the army. Therefore, Sanguinar can reduce or expand the list if he gets the approval of the second and third on the list."

"But what if someone who is strong but has no understanding of battle tactics gets on the list? Won't the army's ability to fight be reduced?" asked Belisarius. It was the first time he had come across such a military system and it was interesting. He wanted to know more.

"Being a Sharazir doesn't mean you can act independently. As you move up the list, not only simple soldiers but also Sharazirs come under your command. If they make mistakes, their superiors have the authority to punish them. You can't even imagine how cruel the punishments are. In short, even if a stupid person enters the list, it doesn't matter as long as he is not Sanguinar. If he's stupid, he'll be dead."

"And what about you? As I recall, you had a few hundred soldiers under your command, but you didn't seem to be taking orders from anyone."

"I was under Kaelyra until two days ago, but my situation is a little different. Since I was one of the Sanguinar candidates... or rather, since I was the only candidate so far, I could be a bit independent. Besides, being a Sharazir does not mean that you can immediately recruit soldiers under your command. No soldier wants to be under a Sharazir whose success he doesn't trust, or a Sharazir with no backing. Things are different for me since I am a Tiamat. Now that I have defeated Varek Nabuk, I am a two-star Sharazir equal to Kaelyra, and I am directly under my uncle Valerius."

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'How many soldiers can you put under your command then?

'A little over three thousand.'

'Won't it be difficult to control that many men on your own?' It did not seem convincing to Belisarius that a young man in his sixteenth year could manage three thousand men on his own.

"You have to appoint a supervisor for every thousand men under your command. This is where the Sharazirs come in, who are usually on the list but can't get men under their command. Just because you put a non-Sharazir in charge doesn't mean he's a Sharazir, of course. They must respect even those Sharazirs who have no soldiers under their command."

Belisarius was thoroughly confused, but his curiosity was not satisfied. It was a system that seemed as simple as it was complicated. As Belisarius understood it, the Rhazgord army was organised like a pyramid. As you moved up the ranks, you began to control the Sharazir, not the soldiers. Sharazir were responsible for the training, salary and the rest of the things of the soldiers below them. As one moved up the ranks, the labour power decreased, but the power of decision and control over a larger part of the army emerged.

"And what happened to Varek Nabuk? Was he crossed off the list?"

"No, he wasn't. Because I defeated him, I moved up his ranking and he moved down my ranking. On top of that, all the soldiers under his command are now under my command. Of course, they don't have to stay under my command. If they want, they can be under the command of other Sharazirs or Varek. Since Varek's ranking has fallen, he can naturally have fewer soldiers under his command."

'So, in fact, the soldiers you defeated Varek yesterday and won might leave you today?

Corvus answered without thinking, as if he was waiting for this question to come. "Yes, they have that right, but it doesn't usually happen. The more powerful a man you are under, the more likely you are to survive the war. I defeated Varek and proved that Varek was weaker than me. Only those who have a problem with me or my family will leave me. if they're sure they can go under the command of another Sharazir."

Soldiers made the most money in the city of Rhazgord. Soldiers who could get under a good Sharizar could earn a lot of money and honour at the same time. The poverty in the city and the fact that the Rhazgords regarded war as a holy ritual made it logical for people to try so hard to be under the command of a Sharazir.

"The Nabuk family is unfortunately one of the largest families in the city. That is why today many men will leave me and follow the Sharazir of the Nabuks. They don't want to be under a Tiamat. Of course, that's not a problem for me. Even though my family is a bit annoyed with me these days, they will support me."

For the Rhazgordians, who had a warrior culture, of course, the political arena was the army camps, not the parliaments. The more Sharazir and soldiers Corvus could control until the day he rose in the ranking and became first, the stronger he would be politically.

They had already reached the city walls by the time Belisarius was asking questions about the Rhazgord army structure. The military camp was a few kilometres outside the city. The two had already reached the camp without stopping their conversation.