Chapter 35 Gold Mine

◎【There's definitely something wrong with this guy.】◎

In the dead of night, Melia bit an apple slice to wipe the grease from her lips, then lay down comfortably in a pile of fur.

Caesar's strength is indeed difficult to estimate, as none of his family members are missing. He thought that the witchcraft and magic in this world were just a drizzle, but he did not expect that personal strength could actually affect the entire battle situation.

They marched quickly and successfully escaped the area of ​​​​Marcas. The Persians did not dare to take any risks and did not even pursue them.

After all, they were able to lure Caesar into the trap largely because Marcus was closer to Rome, and they didn't want to run into the well-prepared Roman garrison.

Yawn~ Melia rubbed the pillow.

No wonder the surrounding area immediately fell into chaos after Caesar's death... After all, according to "The Rose Queen", only Elena among his children inherited the dragon blood characteristics, and that almost light cannon attack should only be able to be reproduced by the heroine.

I wonder how much the situation will change once this world has artillery... Ugh, the hair is pricking my face. I really want to be back in bed in Rome...

"Wake up, Meimei, please wake up~"

"Hmmmm?"

The little white cat opened its eyes. A silvery moon hung high in the night sky. It took a deep breath, inhaling a clean, cool fragrance. Ha~ How wonderful! In an instant, I could be back in Shadow Rome.

I wish the human body could teleport.

The tip of its tail swayed in the moonlight, and suddenly a bowl of clear water was placed before its eyes.

Melia didn't notice and licked the water in the bowl. "Slurp, it's quite sweet. Did you dig a well?"

Misha and Miranda looked at each other, and after a few seconds, they rubbed her little head: "Meimei, look carefully at the sand inside..."

"Sand?! Pah! Pah! Pah! Pah! Pah!—"

The little white cat coughed twice, making great noises, and then suddenly it got stuck: the clear water reflected the silvery moonlight, and the sand at the bottom of the bowl swayed gently with the vibration of the wrist, reflecting bits of golden light.

"Gold sand?!" She meowed and put her head into the bowl, splashing water all over her face.

"Yes, it's gold sand!" Misha licked her lips excitedly, unable to suppress her excitement. "This morning, we found a new road outside the city. At the end of the road, there's a mountain. We ran to the stream on the mountain to catch fish and found gold in the sand!"

Even if it's just a tiny bit of golden dust, gold is gold. Who can resist its allure? A single gold mine can quickly support an entire city-state.

This is how Marcus rose to prominence. Originally, it was just an insignificant town between Persia and Rome, with no one bothering to govern or annex it, and it was occasionally raided by nomads. It wasn't until gold attracted many merchants and garrisons that the chaos finally ended.

"Come on, take me there~"

"Okay." Misha picked up the little white cat, and the three of them walked towards the purple mist at the gate. The purple mist seemed to have faded a little. It had originally formed a circle around the city gate, but now there was a small gap.

They ran out through the gap, the path beneath their feet a straight line. They didn't know if it was an illusion, but it felt like the speed of space movement had increased dramatically, more like standing on teleportation tracks than running.

It seemed like only a dozen minutes had passed before they ran to the foot of a lush mountain range.

The straight road is narrow and shrouded in fog, leaving no room for detours, but the mountains unfold like a green barrier before your eyes, bringing a broad view and pure streams.

From time to time, colorful birds fly over the water and greet the strange guests with their small eyes.

The cat's paw gently immersed itself in the stream water, which was icy cold, no different from a real water vein.

The mud and sand at the bottom of the river looked pale in the moonlight, and one had to wait for the sun to rise before carefully panning for gold, but everyone could hear each other's strong heartbeats.

Melia raised her head and asked, "Have you ever been to the mountain?"

"Yeah." Miranda nodded vigorously. "It has rabbit on it. It's delicious."

There are rabbits, birds, fish... Shadow Rome is becoming more and more like the real world, but maybe it's always been the real world? I wonder what the conditions are for the purple mist to disappear. Will it disappear gradually over time, or as she progresses through important plot points?

Melia suppressed her worries, jumped onto the huge rock by the river and closed her eyes.

Time and space shifted, and she opened her eyes on the other side. It looked familiar, perhaps the forest outside Muala Manor? The little white cat darted a few steps and saw the wooden house where Elena had killed them with a single blow during their last hunt.

As she walked out of the cabin, the scenery became increasingly familiar. Pasha, she paused beside the rolling hills: it turned out that the gold-mining mountains in Shadow Rome corresponded to the hills outside Muala Manor.

The passage emerging from the fog was definitely different from ordinary roads. It was not only flat and straight, but also allowed people to run faster than cars.

After confirming his guess, he was about to turn around and go back, but the little white cat's paw suddenly stopped in mid-air: Wait a minute, Sura is now planning to take over Muala's property.

His purpose of taking the risk of forgery was different from the last time he forged the IOU. As long as the contract was forged successfully, he could obtain Muala's corresponding property.

Now the problem was, no matter how powerful Sulla was, he was only the Supreme Senator, not the Emperor. Caesar would not side with the Senate; he would only hope they would fight each other. If he could uncover any hidden agenda, he would certainly be happy to stir up trouble.

Under these circumstances, Sulla was limited in the contracts he could forge: he could neither seize Muala's iconic wealth nor forge a large number of them out of spite.

Therefore, he would definitely give priority to the high-quality and low-key part of the industry, preferably the part that Muala had hidden during his lifetime.

For example - a gold mine.

Hey hey hey, Sura, I'm going to start fishing~

Melia's eyes lit up, and she leaped to the bottom of the hillside, scouting for a good spot. She quickly found two large trees, bent to the ground by lightning. She projected the gold coin in her mind's eye, stuck inside them, heads facing up.

The trees flashed with irregular arcs of light, and the electricity gradually penetrated the trunks. Like the houses in the shadow of Rome, the wood in the present world began to gradually bridge the gap and finally formed a magnificent marble arch.

The cat walked through the archway with its tail wagging, and with a flash of gold coins, it successfully returned to Shadow Rome.

She jumped onto the rock and flicked her paw at the two little ones with hopeful faces. "I have a way to allow you to travel back and forth at any time. Do you want to go back immediately?"

Miranda shook her head vigorously: "No, I can't get enough food in the temple. I would rather stay here."

She had many reasons to stay. There were no chains in Shadow Rome, and her legs didn't hurt. She could hunt birds and fish whenever she was hungry, and there was whole wheat bread. No one would take her blood with a knife.

Of course, if Meimei needed her blood, she would give it to her. After all, she had gained weight now, so she wouldn't feel dizzy if she bled.

Misha hesitated for a moment and looked up: "Meimei, I don't want to go home. But... can you give them some gold? I also want to bring my sister over."

The kitten deity before them was very generous. She had previously promised each of them a box of gold coins, and this time, they would definitely receive a reward for discovering a gold mine. However, deities were very detached, perhaps unwilling to allow her to become too involved with her parents, lest they reveal this blessed land.

This is normal. Misha herself knows that if her parents find out about the magical kitten and the gold mine, the news will spread throughout the city in a few days.

Melia yawned. "Ha~ It's up to you guys. Anyway, I'll set up a few more teleportation points in the city. Uh, a teleportation point is something like a door... You can walk into it and return to Shadow Rome. Through the teleportation points in Shadow Rome, you can return to Rome."

Cats pawed the sand, creating the shapes of gold coins and arches. Melia constructed a Roman arch before their eyes, with only one difference: the inlaid gold coins were facing up.

Ha meow, I’m so tired… My eyelids were getting heavier and heavier, and the cat tilted its neck and fell asleep in Misha’s arms.

…

Melia opened her eyes in the morning light. Was there a hole in the tent... No, was it outside now?

She flipped over with a whoosh and a piece of bread flew towards her.

"Ah." Melia bit it and gradually regained consciousness.

She was lying on Ronnie's lap, and Taffy was holding a tray, waiting for her to wake up and feed her. The whole wheat bread was a little rough, but the sandwich was carefully cut and spread with jam.

"Delicious~" Melia narrowed her eyes and suddenly noticed that the little guy she had just adopted yesterday was packing buckets and towels nearby.

"What's your name?"

She called out twice before the girl blinked and straightened up: "Are you asking me? Whatever, you can call me whatever you like."

"How can this be? Aren't you the daughter of the tribal leader? You must have a name."

Seeing Melia's matter-of-fact expression, the girl smiled slightly. She had a sweet face, but her narrow eyeliner made her smile very charming. "Of course, but you are a Roman noble, so you must like giving people names."

The words were sweet and soft, but inside they made Taffy stand up, ready to whip her and teach her a lesson. However, when he touched his waist, he found that the whip given by the lady was gone.

Yeah, "Miss Now" doesn't like to whip them.

Melia clapped her hands in agreement. "Many nobles like it, which is why I can't stand it. Imagine if your name was Liuli, and I insisted on calling you Barley, you wouldn't be happy, right? Besides, a name is a precious promise, why would we change it so casually?"

"Haha, you're so weird." The girl's smile widened, and her chin curved beautifully. "Then you can just call me Sunny. San is fine too."

"Okay, you can call me Melia too. Come to think of it, do I look like your sister?" Melia suddenly thought of the sister that Sonny called out that day, and pointed to her chin curiously.

Sonny shook his head: "No, I only have one sister, but I think if I call you sister, you will be more willing to save me."

That's true, Melia said, clutching her forehead as she pondered how to get along. Sunny wasn't a slave like Muala's slaves; she wasn't a slave from the beginning; she was closer to a captive. This was just as well; she didn't want to make her a slave.

This girl looks like a very lively type. How about finding an excuse to let her go to the farm to rest, then write a letter to her family, give them a few gold coins and let her go?

No matter how poor a tribe is, they can still afford a few gold coins.

Crunch, boots stepped on the grass.

Elena walked over from a distance, casting a shadow over Melia: "Melia, His Majesty has allowed you to return to school."

Enroll?! There's a school here?!

Melia was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized it was a translation issue with "The Rose Princess." However, since it had been translated as "enrollment," it meant he was actually going to school.

Her face immediately fell like a kitten: "Can I not go?"

Not going? Elena almost laughed out loud. This was her chance to reintegrate into the aristocracy. She'd cried her heart out when she was kicked out before, and now she was even disgusted?

Before she could react, Sonny in the corner moved first.

She threw herself on the blanket hopefully, almost touching Melia's head. "Sister, can you take me with you? I really want to learn new things in Rome~~"

Alas!

[There's definitely something wrong with this guy.]

Except for Ronnie, everyone felt the same alarm bell ring in their hearts.

The author has something to say:

Thanks to Orange, jgbvgyfch, LibuRUN, and Seventeen for their support~