Welcome to Hero of Rome, a litRPG historical fantasy set in Ancient Rome. If you’re new here, start the story in Chapter 1.
Enjoy the chapter!
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King Arthur of Camelot, not content with just any cutlery, sets off on a legendary quest for Excalibur, a sword rumored to make him invincible in battle and the envy of every knight with a lesser blade.
Bulla was indeed happy upon our return, especially when I handed him the bag of 5,000 denarii and jewelry, and told him where to find the rest of the treasure hoarded by the cyclops.
“A fine work, young Max and Camillus,” he said, his eyes full of surprise as he took the money. Marcus and Cataline stood beside him watching us; the philosopher smiled warmly at us, while Cataline eyed us with suspicion. “I see you both found new armor as well. Very good. The gods have favored me today in my freeing you from the Emperor.”
“Thank you,” we said, giving Bulla a quick bow of respect.
“Have a team gather as much as they can before another cyclops replaces the previous owner,” Bulla said to one of his commanders, who ran off to fulfill his will.
“Bulla?” I said, catching him before he turned away to leave. “About the raid in two days. I would like to request Camillus and I be a part of the team. I believe we have proved ourselves capable today.”
Before Bulla could respond, Cataline spoke up. “Our crew is already spoken for. We would not want to diminish the shared spoils even further by two.”
“Shall we deny these two the chance to grow in power?” Marcus interjected. “The Emperor has his men searching ruthlessly for our hideout, fearing another rebellion. We would be foolish to sacrifice a small amount of treasure now to miss out and increase the strength of our members.”
Cataline fought to reply but Bulla held up a hand to silence him. “You raise a valid point, Marcus. Very well, Max and Camillus. You two will join us on the raid. We will depart tomorrow at dusk. Be ready after dinner. For now, enjoy the evening off of training,” Bulla said with a wink. “You both deserved it.”
Cataline sneered as they left us, leaving us alone amidst the other freedmen who congratulated us before returning to their training in the sparring arena.
“Congratulations,” Camillus said, smiling. “It looks like we get to become as rich as emperors.”
“That’s if Cataline doesn’t interfere,” I said, watching the man whisper furiously into Bulla’s ear as they returned to their cave.
“Well, what do you want to do in the meantime?”
I stood for a moment, considering everything. “Hmm. I keep getting notifications from the System about the world at large. I think it would be good to sit down with Marcus and go over what the world looks like, especially if we are to find Medusa to take down Cetus.”
“Sounds boring. Let’s do it!”
After we stashed our treasure beneath our beds, Marcus Aurelius was easy enough to find beneath his favorite tree, reading yet another book and surrounded by many more. He raised an eyebrow as we approached but did not look away from his reading.
“How can I help you boys?” he said.
“We wanted to know if you could teach us about this world,” I said as we sat down on the grass beside him. “Specifically, who rules what and where some monsters are located.”
Marcus chuckled to himself and closed his book. Thankfully, Marcus naturally loved wisdom and sharing it with others, dampening the effects of my Stygian Isolation curse that I could feel from the withdrawal of the other bandits. He reached into his leather satchel and withdrew a parchment map. It looked to be recently marked as he unfolded it before us.
“That was the first question I inquired about upon my rebirth,” he said, looking over the map in fascination, as did Camillus and I. The map focused on most of Europe, with some parts of Africa and Asia. “You can see here, the Roman Empire is currently fighting the Macedonian Empire south of the Danube River; Alexander the Great’s empire stretches far to the east. Thankfully, he is preoccupied with Atilla the Hun’s empire on our northern border along the Rhine. Now, to the north of the Huns across the Baltic Sea, the System refers to these northern barbarian pirates as Vikings, though I’m not sure what that means.”
I looked closer at the map. “They look to have very little solidarity,” I said. “They won’t become unified as a terrific force for England for centuries, but I guess the System is interested in seeing us face them now.”
“Whatever the case may be,” Marcus continued, “they prove a nuisance to the King of Britannia, or Camelot as he calls it. King Arthur and his knights have made very little disturbance against our empire, though as with all things it can change. He is too busy fighting the Viking raids and conquering the Celtic Tribes on the island east of Britannia.”
“There are so many people groups I am unaware of,” Camillus muttered to himself as he stared in amazement at the map.
“Not this one, I hope,” Marcus said, pointing to the southern border of Spain and the top regions of Africa. It was labeled The Carthaginian Empire.
Camillus frowned and spit to the side of the map at the sight. Marcus smiled approvingly.
“Hannibal has his second chance at crushing Rome, and he is taking enormous care to plan his reconquest for success this time. We have certainly not heard the last of him. By the gods' mercy, he does not have Egypt’s grain surplus, given it is currently under rule by Ozymandias, also known as Ramesses the Great.”
Marcus pulled back slightly so we could pour over the map more. “That is where the empires currently stand. Though, without a change in leadership for Rome, I’m afraid it will be torn apart in this sea of sharks.”
“That reminds me,” I said, sitting upright again. “Do you happen to know where Medusa lives?”
Marcus frowned. “Why would you want to know?”
I couldn’t see longer than seven seconds into the future of what lying would result in. Given his profound wisdom and how he helped me so far, honesty seemed to be the best course.
“I want to sever her head and use it to kill Cetus,” I said in a whisper.
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “A tall task indeed. Though I presume it is far easier to turn a dragon to stone than to fight in the waters. Well, in that case, from what I’ve heard, Medusa’s lair would appear to be here.”
His wrinkled hand pointed to a stretch of coastline along modern-day Libya. “We are unsure of her exact location, as we believe her island is hidden by her sorcery. However, many sailors have been plagued in this region and not returned.”
Camillus and I caught each other’s glances of worry.
“It is said that she has a great store of wealth from the sailors she has turned to stone,” Marcus continued. “If you are to reach her and avoid being slain, you will need a crew and a ship.”
“Would Bulla ever consider plundering her island?”
Marcus sighed and shook his head. “I doubt it. As much as he is for the downfall of the Augusti and Caesars, self-preservation for many would prevent a visit with Medusa.”
“So it is hopeless?” Camillus said, uttering my defeated conclusion.
Marcus smiled. “It is the responsibility of leadership to work intelligently with what is given and not waste time fantasizing about a world of flawless people and perfect choices. Max, how often have men followed a leader to almost certain doom in history?”
“Often.”
“And what were their reasons for doing so?”
Before I responded, I racked my brain for any ideas. “Julius Cesar… his men followed him across the Rubicon because of their loyalty to him. For many soldiers, I would have to say because of promised wealth, but also a belief in and loyalty to their leader.”
Marcus nodded. “Those are some of the strongest reasons. If you are to influence Bulla and his men, you will need their loyalty. Helping them complete raids will increase your standing among them and also give you the wealth needed to buy a ship.”
“How much denarii would I need?”
Marcus looked over the map for another minute before responding. “It will vary based on which crew is available. But given your trip will be around seven days, and you are traveling to danger, I would wisely aim for 30,000 denarii.”
My jaw almost dropped to the floor. “For a seven-day trip?”
“It is indeed a lot, but the payoff will be significant. If her horde is great, you should be able to recuperate that and more.”
It felt like I had been punched in the stomach. That was a ton of money to accrue. I would need to take as much as I could on the next raid, and even more on the ones that followed.
I spent the rest of the evening carrying the giant weight of the task ahead of me. Camillus and the rest of the freedmen went off to sleep early after a hard day of training while I stayed up reading another one of Marcus’s books to increase my Historical Insight. It was almost impossible to get my mind off of the monumental challenges ahead.
Could I really face a giant sea dragon? Let alone gather enough money and influence to pull off killing Medusa? Only Hercules had achieved such feats before, and who was I in comparison?
I was so enthralled by my mind that I almost didn’t notice Camillus slip away from his bed and leave the cave. At first, I thought he was just taking a leek. But after thirty minutes I began to worry. Setting my book aside, I engulfed myself in invisibility and crept from the cave in the shadows.
Is he bathing in the stream again? I thought as I approached the common area where everyone stripped and bathed occasionally.
Sure enough, I found Camillus’s clothes cast by a tree and a faint splashing ahead. But the sight of his dirty tunic and trousers didn’t cast confusion over me.
It was the blood covering his trousers that stopped me dead in my tracks.