X

Circus

『S-Day +35』

『High Servant's Quarters – Late Evening』

Good fucking god, what the shit is this?!

I really should check on my Grimoire more often. So much quest spam and chain quests at that and two blessings of gods? My stored Mana and Skill Points skyrocketed as well. There are so many things I could buy from the 「Shop」 and I would be able to unlock a ton of items for purchase. This is freaking awesome… except for the 「Mana Stone」 queue. At five minutes per synthesis and one thousand items to synthesize, it would take around eighty-something hours.

Before I set up synthesis for the night, I wanted to check up on my attributes. I could either upgrade my stats or buy stuff. It was quite the conundrum.

Health:

177/200

Stamina:

200/200

Mana:

200/200

Life Force:

200/200

Stored Mana:

63,825

Strength:

20

Intelligence:

26 → 28

Precision:

31

Wisdom:

25 → 30

Dexterity:

21 → 22

Willpower:

20

Endurance:

20

Perception:

20

Toughness:

26

Charisma:

20 → 23

Resistance:

28

Luck:

67 → 68

Health Recovery:

11

Stamina Recovery:

11

Mana Recovery:

35

Life Force Recovery:

11

Skill Points:

3,297

Status Effects:

-

Everything looks to be in order. The bonus points from the completed quests were already factored in to the attributes and the numbers look right. Now, should I increase my stats or not? Fuck it. I am tired and there is so much to take in. I have no idea if I could pause a synthesis or not, but I decided to select YES and left it on the desk. I would just figure it out tomorrow.

With this I could go to sleep as it was already very late. Veronica had gone to her apartment a couple of hours ago and I am sure the servants were already sleeping. It was a dark night as there was no moon out, but I chose not to use a light so as not to disturb the girls already sleeping.

《!》

Hm? 《Vigilance》 gave me a warning sign. Someone is here…

As I reached the bedroom door I felt an odd sensation. For the past few days I had been activating 《Vigilance》 whenever I approach doors or corners in order to increase my defensive capabilities. This was thanks to Veronica's constant potion crafting. If it was not for her I would not be able to keep my Mana Pool filled. I brought my attention back to the door and listened carefully. Nothing. I could hear nothing, but I could feel 《Vigilance》 warning me something was wrong. I prepared myself. Alicia, Saya and Illyria should be in bed asleep. As long as I was careful I would not harm them.

I reached into my magic pocket and took out my pistol and attached the light on the bottom rail. As quietly as I could I racked the slide and chambered a round. Safety off. Strobe light or full light? No, as I cannot risk making a mistake I turned on full light. The door handle turned slowly. When it reached the end I pushed inward quickly.

The pistol was held with both hands and close to my body. As quickly as I could I scanned the room. The figure was between both beds leaning over Saya. As soon as the intruder noticed the sound and lights that person attempted to flee. There was an oddness to that person's face, mosaic. There was also no sound being emitted. I took careful aim.

*bang* *bang*

As the person fled towards the balcony I shot twice at the legs. At least one bullet hit as I saw the body crash to the floor. With my gun light fixed on the person on the ground, I rushed forward and aimed for the shoulder.

*bang*

The noise obviously woke up the three sleeping girls. The lamp light came on and I could already see Alicia had summoned different blades floating in the air. With the room brightened I was able to see it was a male figure wearing darkened leather. I saw some of the blades beginning to move.

“Alicia wait!”

I managed to stop Alicia from killing this person. My foot was placed on his lower back and I had my gun fixed on his head in case he tried anything.

“Get some rope. We need to interrogate him.”

“Fine.”

His arms were bound and I forced him to walk to the former dining room. His injured leg made his pacing slow, but he had no choice but to move. I removed his bindings and tied him to a chair securing his arms and legs with thin ropes. Separate strands were used for each limb and I was sure I bind his thighs and upper arms down as well. I have seen enough movies to know where to tie a person up to prevent an escape.

His bleeding became severe as I noticed a puddle of blood forming at the feet. There was no choice so I force fed him a healing potion. It would be enough to keep him alive. Now, with him secured I check his body for weapons and checked his mouth for suicide poison. Two daggers and five throwing knives and no poison were found on his person. Multiple magic stones were found as well, one 「Distortion Stone」 secured to his neck and multiple 「Silent Stones」 and 「Mana Stones」 attached at each limb. I placed the items in my pocket. The leather he wore was thin and made to reduce sound rather than to protect from attacks.

Before I began my interrogation I tried to send the three to Veronica's room, but Alicia objected to leaving me alone. She agreed to have both our servants sent to be protected by Veronica and made sure she was unharmed. Alicia returned and gave me the all clear.

I took a good look at the intruder. He looked to be in his 30's and was slightly taller than me. He was thin, but much more muscular than I was which allowed him to scale the building into the balcony.

“Who are you?” I asked the man.

《!》

He attempted to spit at my face, but it was blown back with a weak 《Gust》.

“Who sent you?” I asked the man covered in his own spit.

Silence. His eyes glared at me, but he did not speak or make a sound. Even though he made efforts to remain silent, I kept 《Lie Detection》 active just in case. I could only think of one person who would send an assassin to me. The combat instructor I had ruined.

“So the coward finally sent his assassin?”

Confusion. The man showed a confused face before returning back to glaring.

“If you came to my chambers then you obviously know who I am. Speak.”

“How dare a mere servant speak to me.” the man finally said.

Such an arrogant attitude. I left the room and returned with my bokken.

“If you do not know who I am then you are some kind of stupid for breaking into my apartment carrying weapons.”

*whack*

I swung my bokken against his kneecap. I honestly have no idea how this thing has not broken from all the abuse I had been giving it.

“Guh!” the man groaned.

“Yeah, guh. You prowled into my chambers in the middle of the night covered with dark leather, magic stones to hide your face and make your movements silent and carried weapons and then you got caught. You are just the world's worst assassin.”

“I am no assassin.”

“Oh my, he can finally give a proper answer, yay~,” I said with sarcasm, “Now, tell me who sent you.”

“Nothing you do will make me talk.” the man said defiantly.

“Eeert wrong!” I said as I left the room once more. This time I went to retrieve a small cardboard box. I also returned with a small table and another chair.

The table and chair was placed in front of the man and the small box placed on the table. As I opened the box I could see the contents arranged neatly within. I took out a single item from the box. Although I know that if I just gave him a bowl of katsudon, some beer and make buddy with him he would talk, but what he did was just unacceptable.

“This is a toothpick. With this I can and will make you talk. So do us both a favor and answer my question without resistance.”

“Never.”

“Okay...”

I noisily brought the chair closer to the man. Once I was close enough I placed my left hand atop his right hand. He gave me an odd look.

“Don't make this weird. Just answer my questions. Who sent you? Why did you come here? What is your purpose?”

He did not speak a word. Just continued to stare at me.

“Fine. I did warn you.”

I grasped firmly his pinky finger and carefully placed the toothpick between his fingernail.

“Last chance~.”

He said nothing. I jammed the toothpick into his fingernail causing him to scream.

“Aahh!”

Hm, that was kinda loud.

I released his pinky, but left the toothpick embedded before leaving the room.

“Alicia, how loud was his scream?”

“Fairly loud.”

“Go check outside to make sure no one is around. I’m going to soundproof the room.”

“Sure.”

As she left I went to the office and gathered more 「Silent Stones」 and 「Mana Stones」.

“Everything's clear, Veronica didn't hear anything aside from the gunshots.”

Once that was settled, I returned to the room and started placing the magic stones around. It would be nice if I had some tape, but oh well. The stones were placed where ever I could find a place for it. Mostly on the floor with some on shelves. Many were placed around us in an attempt to create a sound barrier. I turned back to the man.

“Speak.”

“Fuck you, slave.”

I took another toothpick and grasped his right ring finger.

“No.. no wait!”

I jammed the toothpick into the fingernail until it splintered and broke.

“Aahh!”

“Speak. What is your purpose?”

“I… I was sent… to take the girl.” the man finally revealed.

“What girl?”

He said nothing. A third toothpick went into his middle finger causing him to scream once more.

“Blue hair! The one with the blue hair. I was sent to take the girl with blue hair.”

I looked at the man with confusion. It made little sense to want to take Saya just to harm me.

“Who sent you? Was it Brad or Dentist?… No wait, those aren't the right names. Was it Chad or Dentus that sent you? For what reason do they want my servant?”

“I don't know those names. It was not them.”

I took another toothpick and jammed it in his index finger.

“Are you actually enjoying the pain? For fuck's sake just tell me what I want to know already. God damn.”

“Propraetor… Propraetor Lucius Carbo Umbrius. He wanted the girl to take as a concubine.”

“She's a Servilia High Servant. They are only sold to the palace. He does realize that people would know he stole her right?”

“He cares not. He is only in Aventine to take the place of senator while the actual senator recovers from illness. Umbria is a mostly ignored city that no one would ask questions.”

“So he decides to steal one from a summoned hero? The great people's that were stolen into this world to fight dreaded monsters while they hide like cowards? Is he a stupid?”

“Summoned? Wait! Wait wait I had no idea there were summoned here. I had no idea!”

“Tell me about him. Everything. What he looks like, his family, were he lives. Tell me everything.”

“Yes! I will tell you everything. Just please, mercy.”

I took out my phone to record his confession and his admission of complicity. True to his word, he told me everything that I wanted to know. Hair of blonde fading to brown, a handsome, but weathered face, a weak looking body which was a facade as he was a 「Fortimancer」. He had a wife, two sons and five daughters along with hundreds of slaves and servants. His family was currently residing in the 「Patrician's District」 while he is working as a temporary senator in a villa belonging to the actual senator. He told me about his habits and demeanor. He told me everything, like a good dog.

“You interrupted my sleep and you threaten my women. This will not end well for you. Nor him.”

“Please, I told you everything you wanted to know. I told no lies. Mercy.” he begged.

“Mercy? Unfortunately, I am a widow main. I will have the emperor deal with you. Maybe crucify you and the propraetor for your crimes. But for now I need sleep. I also need you alive for your testimony.”

Before leaving the room I stuck toothpicks in his remaining fingers and his toes. I did not want to risk him somehow escaping. I also increase the number of ropes used to bind him and attached it to fixtures around the room. Just in case. And lastly I tried a spell that would immobilize him.

“Agony. Torment. Pain.”

The man convulsed and twitched as the magic worked its way through him. Little trickles of blood emerged from his ears and nose. He foamed at the mouth as he struggled for air. About twenty seconds passed before his convulsion ended. I check his pulse and breathing and seeing he was still alive I left. Once I left the room Alicia met with me.

“So what happens now?” she asked.

“It will be a couple of hours before I usually wake up and I will need to make preparations. Once it is morning I need you and Saya to go visit Minervina and explain the situation and that I will be meeting with the emperor at noon. He will make time for me whether he wants to or not. Now we go to sleep.”

As we went to bed, I kept my gun loaded and under my pillow. With three bullets wasted, I will need to purchase more.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +36』

『High Servant's Quarters』

Woke up, took my medicine, made breakfast, ate, checked on prisoner, took a bath with Alicia. The both of us were exhausted from lack of sleep, but I made Alicia take Saya to go visit Minervina while Illyria and Cassia stayed in Veronica's apartment. When they left, I went to the office and was joined by Veronica. I went to work on my bargaining chip.

“So he's in the dining room? I won't be able to do any work while he's in there.” Veronica said as she was working on her potioncraft on the small retort. She had made preparations to start using the larger still for mass production of mana, health and stamina potions today, but as there was a prisoner occupying the space she was unable to start her work.

“I'll be taking him out later and handing him over to the emperor or something.”

I took my Grimoire and brushed away the 「Mana Stones」 that were piling up on its pages. It took some effort, but I had managed to find a way to pause the synthesis. Now that I know it could be paused I wanted to know if I could change the queued item. Only problem was that the only things queued up were all the same 「Mana Stones」.

Once the Grimoire became paused, I check the shop for a crossbow. After finding a book about what weapons the empire used I noticed that crossbows were not listed. A manuballista once existed, but fell out of favor due to its bulkiness, a scorpio exists as defensive artillery on the walls and the larger ballista exists as an offensive siege weapon to break unit formations and attack walls.

Each of these weapons functioned using torsion which relied on twisting springs made of coiled twine to produce energy. The one I was looking for relied on tension which relied on bending wood or metal to produce energy. After browsing the shop a bit I managed to find a good one. It had a range of 250-300 meters when shooting at a 45° angle with high accuracy at 50 meters. Armor penetration would be limited to chain-mail and leather armor while plate armor would require a heavier steel design.

This item would cost 100 Skill Points to unlock, same as all items, and 7,000 stored mana to synthesize. The time to synthesize would take forty minutes due to the number of components, but also would be discounted slightly for attached components or something. Fuck, I dunno how this shit works, I wish it would explain it properly. The fact that I can only synthesize one thing at a time is kinda bullshit too, but whatever.

A second item I purchased was a quiver of three bolts for 4,000 stored mana, one thousand for each bolt and the quiver. There were various amounts I could have purchased, but I did not want to spend more on this than I needed to. Including the crossbow, it would take about two hours to synthesize the items plus the time it took to move each item up the queue because of the over nine hundred 「Mana Stones」 that were in the way.

Now that this was being magicked, I started drawing up how a crossbow works and how to build it… with my very dwindling amounts of paper. The emperor will just have to deal with my lack of drawing skill. The schematic still makes sense, it is just… ah fuck it. I took my Grimoire and flipped some pages.

「Drawing: Level 0」 → 「Drawing: Level 3」

Stored Mana:

52,825

Skill Points:

3,090

Heh.

Now my drawing ability is awesome… ish. Well, it was acceptable enough for my purpose. I worked on the crossbow design and a trebuchet design in case the crossbow did not pan out. There were other ideas I could work with, but I was short on time.

While I was busy working, Veronica drop her head onto my shoulder. Just like the rest of us she was unable to get enough sleep. Unable to get comfortable she moved her head from my shoulder to my lap. She deserves some rest. I would carry her to the bedroom, but she is a bit heavy for me. Of course, I would never utter such a thing out loud.

Just then I felt a familiar sensation from below. An uncomfortable event was unfolding. This was due to where her head was placed, the feeling was too much I could do nothing about. A prickly and fuzzy sensation sprung up.

My leg is asleep…

☘ ☘ ☘

『Emperor's Chambers』

“And, what concern is it of mine? He has done nothing but cause trouble since he had arrived. In fact all the summoned have caused us more problems than we had expected. If he was a true warrior he can take care of any intruder without issue. Why should I meet with him when he does not wish to join the legion?”

“Father, that is not the issue. The fact that there was an intrusion on the palace grounds means-”

“Enough! I am tired, Minervina. I can no longer control the senate and I have yet to properly grieve for my son. I am more focused on having the other summoned battle ready. Too many rumors had spread and now the senate is asking more and more questions about the summoned.”

“Father, you have a responsibility to take care of this.”

“I leave this to you, he broke away and formed his own faction. I trust this to you. Have them reform and join the others. I want the reformed Third Legion to move out by year's end. Do what you must.”

Before Minervina could say anymore, the Emperor's servant arrived.

“Emperor, the senators are ready.”

Princess Minervina left her father's chambers and returned to her own to give the news to the awaiting Alicia and Saya.

☘ ☘ ☘

『High Servant's Quarters』

“Onii-chan~, are you busy?” Alicia asked as she opened the office door.

“Shh, Veronica is sleeping. So what's the news?”

“The Emperor refused to meet with you. Said that the princess would take care of it as it is her responsibility now. She wanted to come see you, but I told her to continue her schedule. Visit her later okay?”

“What an asshole. Okay so Plan B then, where is he now?”

“Senate meeting. The princess told me where it would be held.”

“Alright, I’m almost done here. Get ready in case there is a fight.”

“Right.”

My blueprints were ready, my crossbow and ammo were ready and my contracts were ready. It was time to get this over with. After pausing the queue and putting away my Grimoire I woke up Veronica and told her to start packing everything up just in case things go sideways. Once Alicia and I leave she would need to gather the servants in case there are any reprisals. As I stood up to get dressed I wound up falling on my face. My leg was still asleep.

“You didn't see that right?”

“Huh, what? You falling on your face? Nah, never saw it.”

Once I was able to recover, and ensuring Veronica absolutely did not see what had happened, I went to the bedroom to prepare. My gun was prepped with FMJ bullets rather than hollow-points since I was unsure if armor would render it useless. My jeans with the magic pocket was worn and filled with items of importance such as the contracts and blueprints as well as a prepared portion of my medication, gold, certain magic stones that may be useful and the weapons of the intruder. A simple shirt was worn for ease of movement and my katana and bokken were tied to my jeans.

Last and most certainly least was the intruder tied up in the dining room. After taking apart a broom handle and having Alicia cut the ropes, I used some of the rope tied to his neck and attached it to the broom handle. Using this I will be able to control his movements at a distance.

“Ready to ruin an asshole's day?” I asked Alicia.

“Yup.”

“Ah wait, hold on.”

I gave Alicia the handle and returned to the bedroom to my rucksack. After digging around a bit I managed to find my pair of sunglasses.

“In case they have some kind of blinding light magic which I should probably try learning.”

“Hm, good idea, I’ll be right back.” she returned with a pair of her own sunglasses.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Imperial Palace – Curia』

Within a large room of the palace sat three hundred men of varying ages. Most men, with white hair and withered bodies, sat on the lower seats quietly discussing the day's agenda. The younger men sat towards the back awaiting the Princeps Senatus to call the session into order. The only reason the oldest man in the Senate did not do so was due to the Emperor not being present.

Finally the Emperor had arrived, he was late and walked to his seat in front of the senators. The Emperor's chair sat facing the senators whose own seating was arranged in two half circles with open ends leading to the Emperor's seat and the main entrance. Around them were various soldiers, Domestici which defended the palatial grounds and Lictors which defended important personnel. As soon as the Emperor sat down the Princeps Senatus stood on wobbling knees and spoke.

“Today is no different from any other day. Today we shall discuss the agendas in which there has been no resolution. I hereby declare this session active.” the Princeps Senatus announced by thudding his staff onto the floor.

“Senators, Emperor,” began a man with a face as wrinkled as were his chins. “it is clear what must be resolved immediately. Who will be Princess Minervina's husband? She will become the Empress in due time, but she is still a child. With both sons no longer with us, what will become of the Epistylian lineage if, gods forbid, she becomes no longer among us?”

Another man stood and concurred with the first.

“Indeed, there has not been such a crisis for at least two hundred years when the previous emperor lost all his sons in the servile uprising. Now the question isn't of when the heir can be conceived, but from whose loins? One of us? One of the patrician houses? Or perhaps… one of these rumored summoned?”

The Curia erupted with a cacophony of rabbles at the word of 'summoned'. For over a month, such rumors had spread and were quickly hushed. No longer could the Emperor quiet these whispers as more rumors spread faster each day, it did not help that such rumors were exacerbated by loose-lipped soldiers within the Praetorian Guard.

“Twenty years ago the Ossian beasts devastated Pompeii, five years ago the first Prince along with the Third Legion became no more and now? Now there lay dead the second Prince along with rumored children. Children! Emperor, you must answer this question once and for all. Who are these summoned?”

More rabbles erupted followed by jeers at the thought of mere children being brought to this world for unknown purposes. Laughter then filled the building when a few senators began speaking of the previous summoned.

“Ah, yes. 'Summoned heroes'. The powerful beings who built this empire from nothing allegedly from another world. Many scholars have dismissed that claim.”

“The summoned are just a myth. One you insist on perpetuating.”

Arguments began to breakout. Talks diverged from that of summoned to other issues.

“We are running out of metals, we need more mines. We must retake the outer fortresses.”

“We must rebuild the Third Legion!”

“The northern barbarians have begun increasing their attacks towards the Healingspring and Gallian mines!”

“Someone has been making large purchases of magic stones, thus causing prices to rise.”

“The magic tools shop was nearly burned to the ground. It was arson. Arson!”

Before order could be restored a powerful explosion occurred. Many were injured from the debris of metal and wooden splinters.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Imperial Palace』

Alicia and I walked into the palace and moved towards where the emperor would be. Our prisoner was handled by me and forced to walk in front. Each time a guard approached us we either told them to move along or were knocked out. Killing them at this time would be a big no-no. Finally after a fifteen minute walk in this crazy gigantic palace we made it to the large doors of the Curia.

“Halt,” said one of the two guards stationed at the doors. “The senate is in session, no one is permitted in when these doors have closed. Turn around.”

“Alicia...”

“On it.”

At my words Alicia knocked out both guards. She had been using 《Summon Hammer》 which is a spell that exists, apparently. Once the two guards were unconscious, we checked our surroundings and double checked our weapons.

“I didn't expect that the guards would be knocked out with a single blow to the head so easily.”

“Yeah, I had to use a little extra force for it to happen. It's super not good for them.”

“Either we really are amazing or these guards are useless. Well, let's get started.”

Once everything was in order we took out multiple potions and drank them quickly. Stamina potion, in case a fight ensues. Mana potion, to replenish our spent and soon to be spent mana. Health potion, in case any injuries are sustained. I began my preparations.

“Anger. Fury. Wrath.” 《Mantra of Rage》 used to increase Strength, Endurance and Toughness.

“Luck. Fortune. Serendipity.” 《Mantra of Fortune》 used to increase stats Luck, Willpower, Precision and Critical Strikes.

“Fixed. Focus. Concentration.” 《Mantra of Concentration》 used for increasing damage and mental processing. As well as negating the negative stats of 《Mantra of Rage》.

“Calm. Comfort. Tranquility.” 《Mantra of Tranquility》 used to keep calm and not panic if things go wrong. As well as negating the rage effect of 《Mantra of Rage》.

These spells were cast twice in succession for myself and Alicia. I downed multiple Mana potions right after to regain as much mana as I could. With the heavy looking door in front of us, I would need to use a big spell to break it down. The more mana you put into a spell increases its strength, even a weak spell can become powerful with enough mana overcharging it. A downside to this would be the longer casting time to form the spell.

《Gust》 should form a concussive blast with a large amount of mana. I chose not to use 《Concussion》 as that would most likely harm us. Conal AoE would be more useful right now rather than a PBAoE which would affect everything in its vicinity. But could a simple wind spell break down this reinforced door? Tornadoes and typhoons could easily lift houses away, so why not?

“Remember, don't kill anyone. I want them intimidated enough to pressure the emperor.”

“Got it. I'll keep them at bay.”

I handed control of the intruder to Alicia then began my spell casting. It did not take long, only two minutes. This was not a battle casting which would have put me at a disadvantage. With Alicia and the intruder standing back behind me, I unleashed the overcharged 《Gust》 at the door.

*crash*

It was pretty amazing that I was able to blow the door open in a single try. Before the dust settled, I downed another Mana potion. There were screams and groans we could hear from people injured near the door. We walked through.

As we moved forward, a guard always attempted to intercept us. However, either Alicia forces a blade at their neck or concusses them with a hammer or I blow them away with wind magic. The further we progressed the more they attempted to repel us. I learned that as long as I do not switch magic types and constantly spam 《Gust》, I can maintain fast-casting to force back each guard.

Now we stood in front of the emperor, his face scrawled with anger at what we have done. There were more guards in front of him to protect him from attacks, but we simply stood idle.

“You were told that I would be meeting with you. Should have made it private.”

“How dare you...” his fury hardly contained.

I ignored him and turned to the senators who wore white togas with purple borders.

“I am Naoki Kuroba, summoned from another world, one of eleven. Last night an assassin was captured in my bed chambers. I am here to accuse the one responsible.”

The screaming and rabbles were silenced at my words while the injured ones remained groaning in pain. I pulled the intruder to face the senators while Alicia protected my six.

“Name the one who hired you.” I spoke to the intruder.

“U-Umbrius… Lucius Carbo Umbrius hired me.” the intruder struggled to speak.

At his words gasps and mutterings spewed from every uninjured senator in the room. Their attentions became focused on the person who was accused. Once I figured out who it was, as it became easy to notice with his face paling, I took out my phone and snapped a picture of him.

“That… that is a lie! A bold face lie! I have never done such a thing nor have I ever heard of a summoned person existing. Guards! Arrest that child!” the accused man expectorated.

Before the guards, who were stunned by the events, could react I spoke.

“I accuse Lucius Carbo Umbrius of subversion against the empire and label him a traitor to the throne. I demand he be crucified until death.”

The Curia erupted with the rabble of savages.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Aventine – Training Grounds』

Unbeknownst to the others, the Curia incident was taking place whilst they continued their training. While the group had fractured and formed into two, they still remained together to train, albeit with reluctance and awkwardness.

Chad, Liam and Samuel were much too focused on training and improving their bodies and their magic to pay any attention to anything or anyone else. However, the other five were not taking their training as seriously as they mostly lazed around passively training their magic. Zoe and Emily continued their flirting with the Princess which fell on deaf ears as Princess Minervina was troubled with what she had heard from Alicia. Despite attempting to remain stoic, there were still telltale signs of worry on her face.

“Hey Princess, is something wrong?” asked Emily.

“Huh? Oh, nothing. I’m just worried about Naoki.” as if snapping out of a trance, the Princess responded without thinking.

Both girls grimaced at the name, but before the could follow up on why she was on a first-name basis with Naoki a scream was heard.

“AH fuck, my coccyx!” Riley, the 「Ignimancer」 screamed as he fell to the ground after failing to sustain a flight spell utilizing fire magic.

While he was able to create enough thrust to propel himself above ground, he remained careless about his altitude. That carelessness resulted in Riley not realizing the mana cost of sustaining the fire magic and, while reaching a height of nearly ten meters, fell to the ground.

“Ah, Naoki was right about one of them attempting to fly…” sighed the princess.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Imperial Palace – Office』

Alicia and I were sitting in a small room, but not too small as there were numerous guards surrounding us. In front of us sat the emperor with a vexed look on his face. Neither of us spoke for some time. We simply sat, waiting for the other to start.

“You do realize what you have done, yes? You were not ready to be revealed to the people, let alone the senate. I should have you hanged for what you did.” the emperor said.

It was obvious he was controlling his anger. However, it was his fault to begin with.

“But you won't. No, you can't. Now that they know about our existence and our numbers any actions against us will look unfavorably towards you. You should have met with me privately.”

Calm. Comfort. Tranquility.

I targeted the emperor to try and calm him down. It seems no one else noticed the magic.

“Then… what do you want? Propraetor Umbrius denies any involvement and there is little evidence to support your claims.” the emperor said with a now calm voice.

“Does my prisoner not count as evidence? He colluded in a plot under Umbrius' orders. That alone is evidence enough.”

“Umbrius will still refute it. He has more standing than an unknown man who was clearly tortured.”

“Obviously you will hold a trial. However, I have no time for such a thing nor am I interested. So, I will make you a deal. I will overlook this whole incident if you return us back to our world. Simple.”

“Impossible. Only my son knew the secrets of summoning. Not only that, at the completion of the ritual where the incident of his… demise, the 「Altar Stones」 were destroyed.”

“Then I want his research notes. All of it.”

“There are none.”

“Only an idiot would not keep documents of something supposedly important.”

“Do not insult my son, boy.”

“He insults himself. What kind of idiot does not keep notes? Who were his assistants? How do you not know how summoning works? How are you so useless?”

The emperor said nothing, but his face showed that he was near breaking out of my spell.

If there are no 「Altar Stones」 and no research on summoning then there is no reason for me to remain in the capital.

“Then I want you to try Umbrius. Force it to happen. Make it public. Once he is found guilty, you will give me all his assets. Actually, make it a trial by combat, yeah, a nice big spectacle. Let everyone know the power of us summoned heroes and I’ll let the others join your army.”

“You insult me, you insult my son, you humiliate me in front of the senate and you even injured some of them. Now you claim that you will 'let the others join my army' as if you had some kind of authority. Where does this arrogance stem?”

“You were told I would be meeting with you. It was your fault for ignoring it and attempting to pass it off to your daughter. As for my arrogance…” I used my finger to lift my upper lip to show my incisor. “When you back a wolf into a corner he will bare his fangs to rip your throat. Arrogance is my fang and I will use it with reckless abandon to rip your throat. Metaphorically speaking of course.

“By the way, I have some primitive technologies that might interest you. You can think of it as my bargaining chip to use in bartering. Take away Umbrius' fortunes and give them to me and you can plant your own agent who is loyal to you to govern Umbria and with that you can turn Umbria into a weapons manufacturer.”

We talked more. Spent all day talking and making deals. The crossbow was demonstrated on the prisoner without killing him. The contract to produce weapons and siege engines were given to me. The contract to force Umbrius into a trial and his punishment was signed. Despite my hatred for this piece of shit emperor there was nothing much I could do to him that would not lead to a bad end. I would just need to bide my time.

“I'll go visit Umbrius to deliver the message. Don't worry, I know where he lives.”

☘ ☘ ☘

『Patrician's District』

“It's this one.”

“Alicia, are you sure? Because that is like the third time you said it and we ended up ruining two perfectly good doors.”

“What do you mean 'we'? I’m not the one blowing shit up.”

“It's a team effort. So you are sure this is the one?”

“Pretty sure. They all use the same shitty architecture. Not my fault they all look like copy paste cookie cutters.”

“Pretty sure? Whatever, let's do this.”

*crash*

“Yeah, no matter what, I really enjoy blowing down doors with magic.”

“Oh, onii-chan, you know what? We probably could have asked one of the sentries before knocking them all out.”

“Oh for fuck's sake.”

After getting directions from the intruder, Alicia and I set out to the Governor's residence. Despite Alicia having spent two or three weeks sneaking around the capital taking pictures of pretty much everything, she was unable to tell which villa was which. In her defense, though, all these villas were pretty identical. It was still annoying and a bit embarrassing that we mistook two villas before figuring out that we probably could have just asked someone.

With the villa's front doors completely removed, we were able to enter with little issue. Anytime a guard came up to intercept us I would simply use wind magic to force them back or Alicia would use a magic hammer and hit them in the face. We managed to find the governor after walking a bit through the villa. He was busy having dinner with his family. For whatever reason, they simply ignored the loud crashing sound of their door being blown off its hinges.

“What are you doing here?! How dare you intrude into my home!” screamed the man as food particles flew out of his mouth.

“Oh good, we managed to find you on our first try. No mistakes were made at all. Nope.”

The children were fear-stricken as they huddled towards their, I am assuming, mother. The propraetor was unable to do anything but stand there as his guards were continuously knocked out.

“What do you want? Please don't hurt my family.” he pleaded.

“You are hereby forbidden from leaving Aventine. You have been challenge to a trial by combat against the summoned you have wronged and for suspicions of treason. You will have one month of gratis to prepare for the trial so long as you remain within the capital. You are afforded one champion to represent you in your stead if you choose to do so. The trial will take place within the Circus Flavium of Viminale. Guards will be sent to prevent any attempts of fleeing and will escort you to Viminale.” I unrolled the contract and presented it to him.

He took the parchment with unsteady hands and carefully read it. Since it was uninteresting, we simply turned and left. As we returned to our apartment, Alicia turned to me.

“So what happens now?”

“Now? Now it's time for a montage.”

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +37』

『High Servant's Quarters』

My days were to become routine. Simplified and predictable. Each morning I would wake up at my usual time of 4:30am and take my medication. Saya and Illyria would then begin preparing breakfast for the six of us. Alicia would take this time to try and grab a few extra minutes of sleep as she is not a very strong morning person. I would go next door for my morning exercise followed by a shower with Alicia, Saya and Illyria.

Veronica would hole herself up in the office for magic stone research or former dining room for mass producing potions. With the excess Mana potions in our possession we were able to increase our magic training. Alicia and I would do so behind the insula as it was quite empty, save for a storage area for firewood.

With the upcoming trial taking place a month from now at the Colosseum, I wanted to specialize my magic training into self-buff, attack and evasion. Mantra, fire and wind magic would be my primary focus, but I still wanted to work on earth and electricity for its utility.

Mantras were easy to perform since I could just place various and multiple mantras on other people throughout the day. Offensive mantras, however, were not trainable due to not having a proper target. Although Saya did try to volunteer, it was quickly rejected.

Alicia was instrumental for my training as she could quickly produce various weapons for me to train against without causing any harm. Though the weapons she could summoned would only last a short while and were actually quite brittle. They were still quite strong for single attack usage and as she leveled up each spell each weapon became slightly stronger.

《Firestrike: level 1》 → 《Firestrike: level 2》

《Fireball: level 2》 → 《Fireball: level 3》

《Flamethrower: level 1》 → 《Flamethrower: level 2》

《Gust: level 2》 → 《Gust: level 3》

《Gale: level 0》 → 《Gale: level 1》

《Wind Cutter: level 0》 → 《Wind Cutter: level 1》

《Wind Blade: level 0》 → 《Wind Blade: level 1》

These seven spells would be my primary attacks. 《Firestrike》 was a slow moving, but very strong spell and would be a good opener. 《Gust》 would let me force enemies away from me with a quick push as I have been doing yesterday while 《Gale》 was a more powerful version of 《Gust》 which would let me control enemy movement a bit. 《Wind Cutter》 and 《Wind Blade》 were both short range attacks that could cut flesh easily. This was proven with some slabs of pork we prepared for lunch.

《Mantra of Flames》 Learned | Words of Power: [Blaze. Inferno. Conflagration.]

《Mantra of Winds》 Learned | Words of Power: [Breeze. Squall. Zephyr.]

《Mantra of Fortune: level 1》 → 《Mantra of Fortune: level 2》

《Mantra of Concentration: level 1》 → 《Mantra of Concentration: level 2》

《Mantra of Tranquility: level 2》 → 《Mantra of Tranquility: level 3》

《Mantra of Flames: level 0》 → 《Mantra of Flames: level 1》

《Mantra of Winds: level 0》 → 《Mantra of Winds: level 1》

It was thankful my laptop had a thesaurus app installed as it would become crazy easy to learn new mantras. As long as I knew what the words meant I would be able to create new mantras with ease. 《Mantra of Flames》 increased casting speed, damage and splash damage of fire magic spells while 《Mantra of Winds》 increased casting speed and pressure of wind spells.

At night I would spend time copying the borrowed encyclopedias on the Ossians and the Oss Curse over to my laptop. Yesterday, while we were away, Veronica cleaned up the office putting everything into the magic chest. With the newly released space, she started constructing an object using 「Celerity Stones」. The design showed thin wooden panels that could be placed around an object and create a temporal field, a literal time machine. I suggested building a small scale version to prove the concept.

I really only needed two or three hours of sleep each night. Maybe even less as stamina potions had a side effect of keeping you awake. It does not, however, share the same effects of caffeine in giving that tell-tale buzz. It is difficult to describe the feeling. As always, whenever I go to bed I am met with both Alicia and Saya on each side. The Mediterranean climate combined with the lack of breezes made their snuggling uncomfortably warm.

I wonder if raising my Endurance stat can fix that problem.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +41』

『High Servant's Quarters』

Four days passed and I have been noticing more frequent guard patrols now that everyone has found out about the incursion. Every so often a patrol would stop and observe our training before continuing on with their route.

Magic spells I attempt to level up do not seem to get to level 4 unless I use Skill Points. Getting from level 0 to level 2 can easily take a day for me, but a week for Alicia and Veronica. Getting to level 3 takes me about one week if I grind hard enough. Skill Point usage might be needed for my upcoming fight.

Veronica's test with the 「Celerity Stone」 was successful. At full activation over a period of twenty-four hours caused a dilation effect of seventy-two hours. We tested this with germination of seeds. After two days of tests, it was obvious how awesome this thing was. I worked with her to build a larger model so I could test if I would be able to speed up my not-soy sauce. I needed my god damn comfort food.

My Synthesis queue was also completed since I have been trusting Veronica with watching over my Grimoire as I trained. We had so~ many 「Mana Stones」. When I looked up 「Celerity Stone」 in the shop, it showed a mana cost of one-hundred thousand. Each. 「Altar Stone」was even worse than that at ten million mana. That was pretty lame. Lamer than lame. The lamest. Seriously, what the fuck?

Dev, please balance.

《Earth Shape: level 1》 → 《Earth Shape: level 2》 → 《Earth Shape: level 3》

《Earth Wall: level 0》 → 《Earth Wall: level 1》

《Earth Shatter: level 1》 → 《Earth Shatter: level 2》

《Shock Wave: level 0》 → 《Shock Wave: level 1》

《Unsteady Ground: level 0》 → 《Unsteady Ground: level 1》

《Create Sand: level 0》 → 《Create Sand: level 1》

《Create Gravel: level 1》 → 《Create Gravel: level 2》

《Create Stone: level 0》 → 《Create Stone: level 1》

《Create Rock: level 0》 → 《Create Rock: level 1》

《Rock Spike: level 0》 → 《Rock Spike: level 1》

《Impale Rock Spike: level 0》 → 《Impale Rock Spike: level 1》

《Rock Spike Ring: level 0》 → 《Rock Spike Ring: level 1》

《Rock Blade: level 0》 → 《Rock Blade: level 1》

《Stoning: level 0》 → 《Stoning: level 1》

《Grasping Earth: level 0》 → 《Grasping Earth: level 1》

《Stone Shards: level 0》 → 《Stone Shards: level 1》

Earth magic was fucking ridiculous. Just the sheer amount of earth spells I could learn in just a couple of days worth of effort made this magic type crazy imba. It would absolutely not surprise me if an army of earth mages were used to create the defensive walls surrounding the empire. If I dedicated a month to speccing just earth magic, I would probably be able to learn over a hundred spells. I should try learning more sand magic for blinding effects.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +42』

『Palace Smithy』

Before I was able to start more magic training a messenger arrived at my door; my armor was complete. As I stood in the armorsmith’s atelier I looked at myself in their bronze mirror wearing my newly made samurai armor. Everything was to my specification from the plates to the leather bindings. Leather was used as the base material to back the plates to reinforce it. The turtle shell was lacquered with Aqua Limus, or slime liquid, as added reinforcement. Researching slimes would be interesting. I thanked them for their hard work.

Since I was at the smithy, I decided to go over to the swordsmith. I had little interest in staying in the capital for too long since there were few things it offered me. One of the few things it did was a fully outfitted smithy. It would be a good idea to get some forging skills in while I can.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +54』

『Palace Smithy』

My routine was altered, but still simplified. Wake up, take my medication, train my body, train my magic, practice smithing and research. There was little free time for me to spend, but I paid it no mind.

It took one thousand iron daggers for me to level up smithing to an appropriate level to craft an acceptable weapon. A steel katana and nodachi were crafted with the assistance of magic. Air magic and fire magic were used to bring the temperature up high for forging and earth magic for hammering and sand polishing. I definitely would not entrust my life to these weapons, but they were usable. Alicia would get the katana while I would use the nodachi for the fight.

In the two weeks (twelve days) that I have spent within the smithy, I was able to learn everything I needed to know about the various tools and equipment needed to operate the smith. The furnaces needed to be replaced as I had ruined it when using air magic to raise the temperature for smelting. But thanks to me, the smiths were able to learn how to make higher quality steel.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +55』

『Minervina's Chambers』

“You have not come to visit me much.”

“I'm visiting now. What, did you miss me?”

“Not really...”

“Mhm.”

With my blacksmith training more or less complete, I took today to spend some time with Minervina at Alicia's insistence. We were both in her bed recovering from post-coital bliss. Our bodies clung together sticky with sweat while she rested her head on my chest.

“The populus knows now the existence of the summoned as well the charges against Propraetor Umbrius. I thought you had no interest in serving the Empire?”

“Everything is a means to an end. Every step I take is a move towards my goal of returning home. I won't be serving the Empire, if my plans work out then this fight will give me a large boon to aid in my return to my world.”

“Father is vexed by your actions.”

“He won't do anything about it without risking further ire from the senate. Without a male heir and the secrecy of kidnapping us, he has lost political influence. He risks civil unrest and possibly revolt if he made attempts against me.”

“How do you know?”

At her question I told her a summary of the fallen Roman Empire. How this empire was based on that and how it was possible that one of the previous summoned was from the waning years of the Empire. I told her how imperialism rose and how emperors fell. How many rebellions and incursion they suffered. How they were nothing more than romanticized legends.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +56』

『High Servant's Quarters』

「Quest:【Technology I】 | Information: Old technologies can become new. Prepare schematics of various technologies and inventions. | Rewards: 500 stored Mana, 10 Skill Points, 1 Random Blueprint.」

「Quest Complete:【Technology I】 | Information: Old technologies can become new. Prepare schematics of various technologies and inventions. | Rewards: 500 stored Mana, 10 Skill Points, 1 Random Blueprint.」

Select 1 Blueprint for Synthesis:

〈Gunpowder〉 〈Printing〉 〈Steam Engine〉

〈Steam Engine〉 Selected.

Begin Synthesis?

YES | No

Synthesizing…

Steam Engine blueprints could be useful into gaining funds. If I were to successfully sell this to the emperor or an equally high buyer then I can get uber rich. I need to begin finalizing my plans for leaving the empire.

Active Quests:

「Grand Quest:【Cure The Oss Curse】 | Information: User is afflicted with the Oss Curse, a disease which may alter humans into an Ossian. Discover a cure. | Rewards: 50,000,000 stored Mana, 1,000,000 Skill Points, Gift of Veiovis」

「Quest:【Learn Animancy】 | Information: Limited Grimoire functions may be used without spawning physical Grimoire to add layer of protection.| Rewards: Animancy Spells: 《Mana Regeneration Level:1》《Health Regeneration Level:1》《Stamina Regeneration Level:1》」

「Quest:【Altar】 | Information: Search for Altar Stones locations. | Rewards: 500 stored Mana, 10 Skill Points.」

「Quest:【Technology II】 | Information: Everything by design. Prepare more schematics of various technologies and inventions. | Rewards: 5,000 stored Mana, 100 Skill Points, 3 Random Blueprints.」

「Quest:【Colosseum】 | Information: Prove victorious in the arena. | Rewards: 100,000 stored mana, 2,000 Skill Points, Enchanted Weapon: Shield – Shield of Judgment.」

I wonder how the quest system even works. I did not get a single one for blacksmithing or swordsmithing, but I got one for fighting in the colosseum. How does it figure out what to spawn and when. A few times it seemed to activate a quest before I would have any foreknowledge of the events. Even the 'Technology' chain seems to be guiding me to a certain direction. Could it be some god messing around or something? Annoying.

Well whatever, I need to get back to training.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +62』

『High Servant's Quarters』

《Electric Control: level 4》 → 《Electric Control: level 5》

《Electric Charge: level 4》 → 《Electric Charge: level 5》

《Static Shock: level 1》 → 《Static Shock: level 2》

《Static Field: level 0》 → 《Static Field: level 1》

《Shocking Aura: level 0》 → 《Shocking Aura: level 1》

《Electromagnetism: level 0》 → 《Electromagnetism: level 1》

《Electric Arc: level 0》 → 《Electric Arc: level 1》

《Arc Lightning: level 0》 → 《Arc Lightning: level 1》

《Lightning Touch: level 0》 → 《Lightning Touch: level 1》

《Magnetic Aura: level 0》 → 《Magnetic Aura: level 1》

《Magnetic Field: level 0》 → 《Magnetic Field: level 1》

《Magnetic Field Control: level 0》 → 《Magnetic Field Control: level 1》

Last minute training for electric magic gave me quite a few spells. Since I have been passively training 《Electric Control》 and 《Electric Charge》by charging my electronics, it had gone up to level five. The two auras were interesting as it altered the auras I would exude. Unfortunately, I did not have time to test its effects with Minervina.

The fight in the Colosseum was to take place in four days. The city which houses the Colosseum is called Viminale and lay one and a half days east-southeast of Aventine, just between the four and five o’clock position. We would leave tomorrow, but we needed to decide what to do with our possessions. If we put everything inside the magic chest, then we would be able to bring it along with us and have no risk at theft while away. However, if we were not careful then everything we own could be stolen while in Viminale.

It was decided that guards would be employed, with the emperor picking up the bill, to and from our journey to Viminale. The three of us would take turns keeping watch over the chest while we stay at wherever it is we will be staying. I have no idea if there were high class hotels or not as I really did not want to sleep in a cheap inn.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +63』

It was decided we would be staying in the imperial villa with Minervina as she was to be held responsible for my actions. The others would be there as well since they were to be publicly unveiled to the world as the saviors of the empire or some such garbage. The agreement that I made was that we were to not associate with them in any way with my identity being obfuscated.

I was told that the others would be staying in the barracks of the Second Legion to understand legionary formations and such. It super duper works for me as I did not want to be disturbed when Minervina and I were alone. Unfortunately, the emperor would be there as well since it is his villa and his presence was required at the Colosseum. The royal family owned a luxurious villa in each city which was populated with servants and slaves as caretakers.

It was 6am when we started to load up the carriage we would be riding. This one was much larger than the one I had been using to go to the merchant's district. More storage space and enough seating for us to sit comfortably. We kept our luggage out in the open so we would not draw attention to the very conspicuous chest we carried with us. The items in my rucksack was placed in a leather bag and was now holding my armor and swords. The nodachi was wrapped in cloth and kept separate since it too large to fit. Sadly, Minervina would be riding in her personal carriage along with the emperor.

The trip itself was boring. We did our best to mitigate the boredom by distracting ourselves with our tablets/laptops/music players, but after enough hours of riding an uncomfortable and bumpy carriage made it difficult. Since Saya's punishment had ended some time ago she wound up constantly using my headphones. Veronica had managed to find a spare mp3 player and I transferred the music from my phone onto it. Saya now had that mp3 player and was excitedly listening to music.

She is adorable.

Every two hours we would pull off to the side to rest and relieve ourselves. Alicia and I would use this opportunity to have some fun. With sex. Lots of sex. We have been pretty pent up since we were preoccupied with training. Since the carriage had a weak suspension system, our actions were pretty noticeable.

We had prepared food in the morning for lunch, but we did not bother to take into account the driver and guards so they had to prepare food while we were stopped. Before night fell a campsite was setup and numerous slaves were used for this while the guards set their own campsite up. Dinner was prepared by our servants and we retired in our tent. Veronica and cassia had their own tent to sleep in.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +64』

『City of Viminale – Royal Villa』

We finally made it to the villa by late morning. The roads were congested with travelers visiting from all over the empire who had heard about my small event. Even when it was known that the emperor's convoy had arrived, it was difficult to move the already present travelers. Once we got past the gates it only took an hour to reach the villa.

The villa was actually quite impressive. Two meter high walls surrounded the property which was filled with gardens, ponds and a small vineyard. Buildings were multi-storied with the main house being three stories tall. The building we were to stay in was the high servant's quarters, either a thinly-veiled insult or because we have been living in the palatial high servant's quarters. Another reason could be that it was in the opposite area from where Minervina was staying.

“It's smaller than the palatial one, but it's fine since we won't stay here long.”

“We won't need to bring another bed inside, Illyria can just squeeze in with us.”

“And I, of course, will be staying in a different room. Ah, Naoki, hold on I made something for you. Feel free to say how amazing I am.”

Veronica had made a sashimono banner for me to wear on my armor. Sapphire blue for the backdrop that represented Saya and orange for my family crest…

“Blue and orange, really?”

“Hey, there is a reason why it is popular in everything. Just roll with it, dude.”

“Pft, fine whatever. It does look good though. Thank you Veronica.”

“Yeah, I am pretty amazing right? Here, drink your potion.”

I took a moment to drink the mana potion she had given me. Thanks to the two stills having been worked she wound up making two hundred mana potions, eighty health potions and fifty stamina potions. She is pretty awesome.

“So, what are your plans for today? Alicia is doing her information gathering thing and I plan on checking out the Colosseum.”

“I'm going to look for the 「Apothecary Guild」 for stuff. See what kind of materials I can buy for potions.”

“Go ahead and take as much coin as you want. I don't want to leave our stuff alone since I don’t trust the emperor's guards. I can go check out the Colosseum tomorrow.”

“Kay~.”

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +64』

『Colosseum』

The Colosseum was situated slightly southeast outside the Viminale walls. Though I may not have seen the Colosseum of Rome just from seeing this one I could tell it was much more grand. I have seen pictures and virtual recreations, but they pale in comparison to seeing this monument of man's arrogance. It was built in the same manner as the roman version, but had much more elaborate decorations.

The outer wall was built with stone of brilliant white with each archway holding a statue in the center. Columns and pilasters decorated the wall between the arches with corbels positioned above which some bore banners. Vines of ivy can be seen creeping up the walls and on statues. The interior, similar to that of stadiums, were just as elaborately decorated as the exterior. Walls were nothing but murals and more statues and columns while the floors were completely mosaic. Up above was the velarium, the overhead awning, which provided shade to the spectators.

The seating arrangements were segregated into tiers depending on class. The senators along with their immediate families were allowed into the lowest level closest to the arena. The royalty given the best view with their own private box, also at the lowest level. Above them sat the patricians and high ranking military officials. Above them sat wealthy plebs then less wealthy plebs and not high ranking military members. The uppermost tier sat slaves. Interestingly, women, servants and high servants were not restricted in where they could sit, only the lesser slaves.

I made my way to the emperor's box followed by Saya and four lictors who were my acting bodyguards. There were many glares and looks of curiosity as to why some nobody was sitting in the royal seating, I simply ignored them. When I asked how many spectators could be seated I was told one hundred and fifty thousand could be seated comfortably and two hundred thousand could be accommodated if necessary.

Various games were scheduled on a specific day of the week:

The first day of the week held races (circensis).

The second day held theatre performances (scaenicus).

The third day held athletic feats (gymnicus).

The fourth day held animal exhibitions (venationes).

The fifth day held executions (supplicium).

The sixth day held gladiatorial fights (gladiatorius).

The gladiator fights were the most popular and brought in enough spectators to make these exhibitions profitable enough to be a weekly occurrence. The populus loved watching legionaries fighting against hordes of ossians or gladiators fighting larger ossians such as a tauross or orgoss. Today just so happened to be the sixth day of the week, die gladiatorum, and I would be able to watch how gladiators matched up to what I knew from earth. It was unfortunate I only had my phone to record the fights.

Let the games begin… I wish I had some popcorn.