Chapter 43 Military
Status The arrogant Huns drove their carriages and walked through every street in Ludinan, accompanied by Livi and other Roman soldiers. Today was destined to be a huge harvest day for the victorious plunderers. As dusk fell, fifteen carriages loaded with people's money parked at the city gate were pulled out. I think that was the only wealth left for the remaining civilians in the city.
Even if the people complained deeply, the Huns didn't care, because this didn't belong to their territory. As for the Romans, I don't think they cared either. I'm afraid they now think that the people of Ludinan have only experienced slaughter and dare not speak out. I stood in front of the city gate and watched the Hun standing on the cart, grabbing the jewelry one by one, spreading his palms, letting the valuable jewelry fall from his nails. He smiled, his facial features twisted into a ball, and the setting sun dyed half of his face red, making his face more exaggerated, because it was full of greed. I watched from a distance, not because of the full load of jewelry, but because I was disgusted by the greedy expression of the Hun and the servile slaves of the Romans beside him.
"Hey, Luke."
I was in a daze when I was startled by a sudden call. I turned around and found it was Andrew.
"As you wish, Luca," Andrew sighed as if he had lost something. He walked slowly to my side, looked at me and said, "I used my salary to hire the best doctor in the city for the girl named Ana."
"So what did the doctor say?"
"Ah," Andrew hesitated for a moment, then continued, "There's nothing wrong with the person, it's just that the baby in her belly is gone. I heard it was from that Anai's fiancé, but now, I think his fiancé and their child have met by now."
"Alas, poor woman." I leaned against the broken wall, holding the broken Spada iron sword, and occasionally struck the hard rock that made the wall, making a crisp and rhythmic sound. Now, except for the chain mail on my body and the barbarian helmet on my head, I am worthless. This is the price of asserting what I think is justice. Fortunately, I didn't get hurt.
"Hey, Luka, don't be so discouraged!"
Andrew patted my shoulder with a relaxed look on his face. It seemed that his luck was not bad today.
"What's wrong, Andrew?" I asked in confusion, "Is it because some sexy Gallic girl on the road is paying attention to you? Or is there something else that makes you happy?"
Andrew didn't say anything, but looked at me seriously. It was really hard to hide the joy on his face.
"Oh, Andrew, I really can't think of anything else that could make you so ecstatic except for the restoration of your damn military status..." Wait, I suddenly remembered something and asked hurriedly, "Andrew, where is the military flag?"
"Well, I gave it away!" Andrew spread his hands and said it lightly, what a fool! I cursed in my heart, this Andrew thought I was being kept in the dark, but in fact, I knew the general situation the moment I saw that the flag was gone. If he couldn't get what he wanted, he would never part with the flag. Although he felt proud of himself, the flag was gone, and my heart suddenly became empty. Now I am desperately thinking about whether Andrew's behavior is right or wrong.
"Did you use it to exchange for your military badge?" I asked him tentatively. I would rather believe that he secretly hid the military flag and took the opportunity to play a trick on me than to believe that he actually gave the military flag to Aetius! But to my great disappointment, he nodded.
"Oh, Andrew, this is not fun at all!" I still didn't give up. What if this bastard was still challenging my heartbeat? No, I had to get to the bottom of it.
"Oh, Luca, what's wrong? I wanted to scare you. Here you go!" Andrew said, pulling out a lead card tied with a rope from his trouser pocket and handing it to my open palm, saying, "This is your military card. We have finally made it!"
Andrew took his hand, and the piece of lead plate, which was neither too big nor too small, lay quietly in the palm of my hand. Through the light of setting sun, my name was roughly engraved on it: Orius Luca. On the other side of the lead plate was another string of Latin letters: Fourteenth, Gemini Legion, representing that now I have changed from a mercenary to a soldier of the Gemini Legion.
"The officer who issued the military badges said that we will report to the Gemini Legion tomorrow." Andrew looked very excited. I really couldn't understand what he was so happy about. It was just a proof of military status.
"And what about the flag?"
I asked him here.
"Oh, Luca, I wonder if God has covered your ears. Didn't I tell you that the officer asked me to exchange this military card for it, and I gave it to the officer!"
"What?" I couldn't believe my ears. I looked at him and raised my voice more than an octave: "You mean, you gave the flag of the legion to the Roman officer who issued the military badge?"
"Oh, Luca, why are you so nervous!" Andrew looked at me in confusion and said, "We went through so much hardship, didn't we just want to get the military flag to get back our military status? Look!" Andrew showed me his military badge. "Our military status has been restored, so what do we need that thing for?"
"This thing," I held up my military badge and asked him softly, "How much is it worth that makes you want it so badly?"
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"House, money, land!" Andrew seemed to see my dissatisfaction. His smiling face disappeared, replaced by seriousness, and he said word by word: "I was originally in the Gemina Legion, and I relied on military merit to accumulate enough land and houses for myself. Do you know where it is? In Milan! In Milan, the capital of the empire! It is safe enough there. Even if I am injured and retired, I can go back there to grow wheat and support myself. But there is a prerequisite that I must restore my military status! In this way, I can get my land instead of letting it go to waste! Fuck the war, fuck the defense of the country, Luca, Rome is big! The empire will not collapse so easily!"
"Oh, so the so-called glory you mentioned is to defend your piece of farmland, right?" I shook my head with a wry smile. It really felt like I was in a dream. I didn't expect that Andrew, who used to talk about glory and legion all the time, would become so strange this time.
Forget it. I turned my head and saw that the fifteen carriages had completed the handover and, under the escort of the Huns, they were moving away along the weed-covered road towards the slowly setting sun.
Did the Roman Empire's true defenders shed their last drop of blood? What happened to this empire? Everyone is thinking about their own future, no one is willing to think about reviving the lost glory of the empire, and the struggle is actually to make their own lives better. Then who will protect this country and its civilians?
(End of this chapter)