Hermokrates stands up
"Master Hilarion, this must be a misunderstanding; by going north and defeating brigands, my master was merely attempting to 'prove himself trustworthy' and did not intend to appear unreliable; though if there were other ways to do so, he would apologise for his ignorance"

he turns towards the Basileus
"Basileus, regarding the brigand-fighting armies, would it not be more convenient if there were "assigned troops" in every major city's garrison that could be moved out of the city at any moment to deal with rebels? rather than moving large forces around to defeat some small force of bandits only to find another small force appearing on the other side of the region."