Chapter 27 The Last Gathering

I joined the army without knowing why, but it was not a regular mercenary. This was a job where you had to risk your life with no one to witness it, and you had to be ready to take the money and leave at any time.

At night, I spent two denarii to stay in a nice room. Because there were no windows, the air always exuded a very unfriendly smell. Lying on the bed, the snoring of the neighbor kept me awake. Because Andrew and I didn't live together, there was no one to chat with at night. I stared at the oil lamp that burned slowly and emitted a wretched flame with my eyes open, and my heart was blank.

The first thing that comes to mind is mission, which is a question that cannot be answered, and it is also what I am very entangled with now. Maybe it was arranged by God a long time ago, so that I escaped death, and the first living person I saw when I opened my eyes was Andrew, who was full of mission. Everything he has done so far is to be able to return to the ranks of the legion, and as for me, I don’t know what I am doing in this era. I finally got a chance to meet the beautiful Tenaia, but because of that damn flag, I can’t be with Tenaia, at least for now. No, I don’t mean to complain about Andrew’s stubbornness, but now I am like a headless fly, living without any goals.

It was late at night. Thank God, the snoring guy seemed to have self-awareness and unexpectedly stopped his desperate breathing. I quickly closed my eyes and soon fell asleep. But I didn't feel that I slept for long. It was probably just the time between closing my eyes and opening them. I was awakened by the violent shaking. When I opened my eyes, it was pitch black and I couldn't see anything clearly. I just saw a figure holding my arm and shaking it hard.

"Come on, Luca, let's go to the square now."

The voice was deep and powerful, and it was Andrew. Today, Andrew was no longer as disgusted and dissatisfied as he was yesterday. The trembling voice could not cover up his excitement. Anyway, I didn't know what he was excited about. Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I struggled to get up and dozed off. At this time, Andrew had already lit the oil lamp and said, "Get ready and go." He looked impatient.

"Okay, got it."

I felt very uncomfortable because this guy was really incomprehensible. I wondered what the meaning of joining the army was to him, and why he was so eager to prove himself? I didn't ask more questions in detail. I just went out to get some water to wash my face and rinse my mouth, put on my chain mail again, and when everything was tidied up, Andrew and I went downstairs. When we came to the dining area on the first floor, I had to say that the owner of this hotel was really a rich man, or was it the dining custom of the Romans? At this time, the slaves in simple clothes had removed the mess on the table yesterday and replaced it with new food. I picked up a cheesecake and put a few bites into my mouth, and then I drank the wine diluted with water (in the eyes of the Romans, drinking wine that was not diluted with water was a barbarian behavior. This was a rule passed down from the Republican era. God knows what the person who made this rule was thinking, he must be a drunkard).

Before leaving, I secretly took a bunch of grapes, which was just right for me to eat. We walked along the not-so-wide streets towards the center of the city. Every time we passed a crossroads, we would study the road signs erected there. This was a bit slow, but it was better than getting lost. Following the tradition that all roads lead to Rome, the final destination of the roads that extend in all directions is the wide square in front of the Governor's Palace.

Originally there were a lot of vendors selling their stockpiled goods here. I stood in the venue and saw them being driven by the soldiers in leather armor to pack up their small stalls. It seemed that they were all preparing to serve these mercenaries.

Soon, driven away by a large number of guards, the vendors had all left. At this time, the number of people in the venue did not decrease much, but instead increased.

"Are they all mercenaries who came in response to the call?"

A soldier with a loud voice shouted at us: "If you are mercenaries and are registered, then follow me!"

After saying that, he turned and left, followed by a large crowd of people. I had never thought that there would be so many mercenaries, and most of them were strong men from various nationalities. Although they came from different nationalities, they all had one thing in common, that is, they were unruly. While these soldiers in leather armor maintained stability, they were still noisy, like a group of sparrows, talking a lot, of course, the topic was nothing more than bragging about how powerful they were and how they had beaten someone or someone from somewhere to death.

"Oh, these totally unruly scum!"

Andrew said in a low voice, "I told you that joining the mercenaries was a big mistake, Luca. Now you see, I was right. When we get to the battlefield, these guys may not be able to shut their stinky mouths!"

“Andrew, don’t talk.”

I pointed ahead and said to him, "Look there!"

Following my finger, in front of the crowd was a high marble podium. I saw a man wearing a red toga with a shirt called tunic underneath. Tunica plus toga is a typical robe for Roman nobles. The man wearing this robe was an elderly man. He walked up to the stage slowly. Facing the unruly barbarians below the stage, he still paid attention to his etiquette and did not lose his noble status in front of the barbarians.

"Well, gentlemen!" the Roman nobleman began, but I didn't listen carefully to what he said next, because it basically told us that since we are mercenaries of the empire and have received the empire's money, we should fight for the empire. Of course, the treatment of mercenaries is very good. The only drawback is that we have to buy our own equipment. Fortunately, relying on the glory of the empire, the imperial armory is responsible for providing all the equipment that everyone present lacks.

The learned old man talked about this topic for an hour, and then it was time to divide the phalanx. The soldier in charge of this matter began to ask questions one by one, and divided the different mercenaries into different arrays. However, seeing that those men boasted about themselves, the soldier was able to listen patiently, and of course the array assigned was also very forward. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

"What about you two?" A soldier came up to us and asked us directly: "Have you ever served in the army and fought in a war?"

“I have!”

Andrew said: "We both once belonged to the Seventh Gemina Legion!"

"Gamina?"

The soldier looked very surprised. "Wasn't the Gemina Legion completely wiped out by the Goths in a recent battle? Even the body of the legion commander was not found."

"That's not the case, sir!"

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Andrew explained: "I saw with my own eyes that the body of our commander Litorius was taken away by the Goths. He was a brave general who fought to the last moment!"

"So you can prove yourself?"

The soldier took out a lead plate from his neck with many words engraved on it. It was the military plate of a Roman soldier.

"I lost it! But this flag can prove it!" Andrew had to use his last trick. He handed the flag of the Gemina Legion to the soldier and looked at him expectantly. "Sorry, I don't understand this. I'm just a soldier. I don't know these. I only recognize the military badge."

The soldier's expression did not change at all, like an emotionless animal. Or maybe he had heard too many lies and was numb. He lowered his head and took notes, and said coldly: "You two, the first regiment, the fourth phalanx, the first array."

(End of this chapter)