Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!
Chapter 808 - 440: Escort, Intelligence, and Attending Bed

Chapter 808: Chapter 440: Escort, Intelligence, and Attending Bed

August is the warm cloud and rain, gently caressing the lover’s cheeks, making people’s hearts flutter and entangle. The summer rain falls incessantly, the cool breeze passes unnoticed, and a few days pass in a blink.

The High Priest’s Mansion remains heavily guarded, with the Temple Warriors holding torches, patrolling day and night. In the courtyard where Xiulote resides, the flickering firelight cast shadows, the night was heavy, and a faint fragrance floated in the air.

The moonlight, like water, cascades from the open roof, bathing the simple bedroom in a clear glow. A beautiful red-edged echeveria blossoms silently under the moonlight. Its succulent leaves are elegantly simple and spread out layer by layer, tinged with a delicate pink edge. At first glance, it is dignified and graceful; upon closer inspection, it exudes an unspoken allure.

"Bewitching spirit shadow... The goddess under the moonlit night..."

Xiulote, neatly dressed, sat upright in the bedroom. He gazed at the flower and whispered softly.

"Osphrolirion..."

Osphrolirion, also known as red-edged echeveria, is a succulent plant native to Mexico, of the genus Echeveria. Its leaves are slender with red edges and overall resemble a graceful red-edged lotus flower, highly popular in later eras. In the Mexica Alliance, it is also a favored flower among the nobility, able to be grown in well-lit rooms.

Nashu, dressed in a short outfit, stood by the Osphrolirion, quietly waiting for His Highness to rest. The August weather was hot, and she had short hair and bare feet. Her short attire barely covered what needed to be concealed, drawing irresistible glances.

Xiulote’s gaze moved slightly, then shifted away. Her face was as clear and delicate as water; her arms were slender and toned, her waist flexible and agile, her legs long and powerful. All these features caught his eye. The short attire outlined her graceful curves, making them even more alluring, stirring imaginations. The young king paused, then nonchalantly averted his gaze to admire the flower again.

The summer flowers bloomed around him, exuding enchanting aromas and swaying with alluring postures, stirring hearts without a word.

Nashu blinked and smiled faintly. She stood gracefully, silently adjusting her posture to accentuate her allure in the flickering firelight. As a priestess trained from a young age, she knew dozens of ways to hide herself and lessen her presence. But at this moment, she deliberately attracted His Highness’s attention.

Xiulote looked away with a calm expression. Nashu had only been here a few days, but she quietly changed his daily life. Like a drop of ink falling into a cup, silently blending in, tinting the clear life.

In these few days, the first thing Nashu did was to replace Bertade, the Head Warrior, taking charge of His Highness’s personal protection. At first, the Head Warrior had some objections, mainly doubting Nashu’s combat skills.

However, the young Nashu, full of confidence, smiled and declared,

"Dear Holy Eagle Head Warrior, the Divine blesses all things, each with its strengths. On the battlefield, I am not your equal but in close combat, you are not mine."

At these words, the calm Head Warrior raised an eyebrow. Then, under Xiulote’s witness, the two engaged in close combat with short daggers in a narrow room, the first to strike a vital area winning.

The daggers flashed, moving as swiftly as hawks. The dangerous duel lasted only a dozen breaths but left Xiulote sweating. Within five steps, each fighter could defeat a hundred; both were far more skilled than him...

The final outcome was unexpected yet made sense. As Nashu claimed, relying on agility and dexterity, she had the upper hand in the narrow room. Bertade, with a sullen face, acknowledged his defeat and handed over the close-in personal guard but remained responsible for His Highness’s travel safety.

Nashu then arranged several professional assassins trained at the High Priest’s Mansion to blend in among the guarding warriors as undercover observers. A few professional potion doctors were on standby, following His Highness with antidotes for common poisons. His meals were strictly managed, prepared by dedicated servants.

In the wild and tropical Americas, there were too many exotic herbs and poisons, often without antidotes, requiring caution.

Next, besides close protection, Nashu’s second duty was to absorb the spies within the High Priest’s Mansion, perfecting Xiulote’s intelligence team.

In the Mexica Alliance, the systematic intelligence organization could be roughly divided into three branches. The first was the King’s foreign intelligence scouts, the traveling merchants known as Pochteca. After the Mayan merchants Tikalo were absorbed by the Alliance, they became honorable Pochteca, leveraging their merchant status to trade between states and gather intelligence.

The second also belonged to the King, mainly for internal espionage, the Alliance Secret Guards. Before inheriting the throne, Aweit had served as the Alliance’s intelligence chief. After taking the throne, to enforce centralized reforms and monitor the Great Nobility who suffered losses in interests, he organized the Alliance Secret Guards, enhancing internal intelligence oversight.

Regarding the Alliance Secret Guards, Xiulote knew little, only that they mostly existed as guards serving the Great Nobility in the open while secretly serving the central royal family. The recent rise of the Telokan State’s Mountain Family was inseparable from the Secret Guards.

The common leader of the Alliance Pochteca and Secret Guards was the Chief Intelligence Officer, Gillim.

The third branch was the numerous priesthoods under the High Priesthood, scattered everywhere. The Preaching Priests had the function of confession, gaining secrets through confessions; the Ascetic Priests traveled everywhere, trusted and respected by the people, thereby also gathering much information.

Additionally, the Alliance upheld chastity, executing adulterers. The female priestesses in various temples were the only place Alliance Warriors could legitimately seek pleasure outside their families, naturally becoming important sources of intelligence.

In these wild and war-ridden times, combat and death were omnipresent. Roads were blocked, bandits rampant, barbarian tribes raided and plundered, life was like grass. Effective intelligence organizations consumed vast resources, requiring constant investment in manpower and finances to train professionals, beyond the capacity of ordinary states.

In other words, without money or people, one shouldn’t think about intelligence, better to raise a few more warriors.

The Kingdom of the Lake, newly established, had an incomplete intelligence team. Xiulote had taken in some bronze merchants for external Pochteca, and installed a few personal guard warriors in the army to monitor the Kingdom Legions. As for a more rigorous internal intelligence organization, the kingdom had just started investing resources to establish it. The organization’s name, coined by Xiulote, was "Secret Guard," counter to the Alliance Secret Guards.

Nashu, coming from the Holy City temple line, had undergone rigorous training from childhood, raised by priestesses. Now, under the High Priest’s orders, she became Xiulote’s shadow slave and the first head of the "Secret Guard."

Besides close protection and managing intelligence, Nashu had a third role...

Thinking of this, Xiulote felt a headache. These days, Nashu was always by his side, like a shadow day and night, never more than ten steps away. And once night fell, the elegant beauty would stand tall, like a ripe fruit, swaying before him, ready for the picking.

"Ahem."

Xiulote lightly coughed, looking at the Osphrolirion-like enchanting woman.

"Nashu, I need to rest now..."

"Your Highness, it’s late."

Nashu’s lips curled into a seductive smile, her voice as smoky as it was alluring. She stepped forward gently, stretching out a fair hand to untie Xiulote’s robe, then touched his firm chest.

"Please allow your shadow slave to serve you in resting..."