Chapter 46 Military Position
Anthony was surprised. He looked at me and I seemed to have exceeded his expectations. He thought we were like ignorant children who just needed to be happy. But the real situation made him at a loss for words.
"In fact, Luka."
This was something I never expected. I didn't expect Anthony to be able to clearly call out my name before we introduced ourselves. It seemed that he had done a lot of homework behind my back. He looked into my eyes, which made me feel a little uncomfortable. He said softly, "I have no other intentions in doing this, Luca and Andrew. I simply think that you were treated unfairly before, and the pressure was put on you by the military. As a member of the military, I feel guilty, so promoting you to centurions is just a compensation."
After saying this, Andrew hit me hard with his elbow and glared at me secretly, meaning that I should stop talking nonsense. This guy, what Anthony said made sense. It was useless to talk about this small official, so it was reasonable to say that it was compensation. Andrew was already anxious to accept the official position, so I had to shut up and wait quietly for what Anthony would say next.
Anthony just turned around and walked to a wooden table with two helmets on it. He took one and walked towards us with a smile, and handed the helmet to us. This helmet is not very gorgeous, but it is not much different from our current helmets except for the yellow vertical crown on the top (privately speaking, those yellow feathers are so ugly!).
Andrew's eyes lit up, and he took it with both hands as if it were a treasure, holding it carefully in his palms, afraid that it would fall. For some reason, I always felt that this thing was not ordinary. I took the helmet and played with it in my hands, but I was thinking in my heart what medicine Anthony was selling in the gourd?
"Okay," Anthony breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that we didn't have too many problems, which made the matter go smoothly and relieved him a lot. "Since you have all accepted the compensation, then I guess you have no complaints."
Andrew nodded rapidly. It had to be said that such compensation made him quite satisfied. Now I was like a fool. This was a meaningless position. I really couldn't see any other use for it. I might as well just think of it as a bargain and let it go.
Seeing that neither of us had any other reaction, Anthony shouted outside the tent: "Guards!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a strong guard came in from the door, stopped and saluted Anthony, then waited for Anthony's next order.
"Put them both in the first brigade, away from the barbarians outside the camp."
The guard nodded in understanding and waved to both of us to follow.
After saying goodbye to the deputy legion commander Anthony, we followed the guard and headed to the right of the camp gate. We took off our helmets and put on the ugly centurion's chicken feather helmet. We didn't feel anything, but along the way, the eyes of the people around us were no longer as cold as when we first arrived. Since I was a small officer in the legion, most of the soldiers agreed.
"Now that you are here and have been assigned to such a high position, what follows will depend on your performance." The guard who led the way spoke in front, and Andrew listened carefully beside me.
"Don't worry, we will definitely work hard!"
The guard leading the way nodded after hearing this. "You two were promoted by His Excellency Anthony, who is a member of the Senate. This will inadvertently improve your status in the army. So what happens next depends on your own luck."
As he spoke, the guard led us to a huge camp on the right side of the military camp. The soldiers inside were not like the busy soldiers outside who were untidy in clothes and sloppy in appearance. Instead, they were neatly equipped. Although they did not have the chain mail that represented Rome in the early days of the empire, they were still not to be underestimated.
It should be morning training time now. They lined up neatly in the open space in the center of the camp. In front of each square stood a centurion wearing a half-body mail armor with iron plates hanging on the front half of the body and a bronze helmet with a red tassel. Opposite them was a middle-aged man wearing a horned helmet, scale armor, and a red cloak. The arrival of the three of us attracted the attention of the middle-aged man, and he turned his head to look at us.
"Sir!"
The guard stood still and saluted, but the middle-aged man just nodded in return. It must be a high position, so Andrew and I didn't dare to neglect it. We quickly followed the guard and saluted the middle-aged man solemnly.
"What are those two doing? I see they are wearing centurions' helmets."
The middle-aged man raised his head and pointed to Andrew and me. The guard quickly explained, "They are the survivors of the original Seventh Gemina Legion and the pioneers in the siege of Ludinan. In order to commend their achievements, the deputy legion commander Anthony specially ordered them to be centurions and join the first battalion."
"Survivors of the Gemina Legion?" The middle-aged man looked us up and down. "So the flag of the Gemina Legion yesterday was returned by them, right?"
"That's right."
"Hahaha..." Unexpectedly, the middle-aged man laughed. He shook his head and said, "With such great military achievements, you could have been a centurion in other brigades. Why did you come here and be a decurion?"
"Sir, this is what Deputy Legion Commander Anthony meant. Sir Anthony entrusted these two people to you. It is an affirmation of them and of you. I am responsible for bringing them here. Whether they stay or go is entirely up to your decision!"
"Hey, is this considered a threat to me?"
The middle-aged man smiled and glanced at the guard, then at the two of us. The smile on his face faded a lot. "Since Lord Anthony has personally asked me to do this, if I refuse, it would be considered as openly disobeying orders. So my answer is yes, you can keep these two people."
The guard understood and breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you for your help, sir. I don't know how I should report back if you refuse." After saying that, the guard turned around to say goodbye to us and left in a hurry.
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"So, we're just going to settle down here casually?"
Looking at the guard's receding back, my mind was full of questions. When I turned around, I saw the middle-aged man looking at Andrew and me seriously.
"So let me make it short."
Oh, come on, it's the same again. I sighed inwardly, and then I heard him introduce himself: "I am the chief centurion of the 1st Battalion of the 14th Gemini Legion. I don't want to say my specific name, you can just call me Guy."
"Yes, sir!"
Andrew and I answered at the same time.
The chief centurion named Guy nodded, pointed to the nearest square, and said to the two of us: "This one is still short of people, you can join it."
(End of this chapter)