For the Glory of Rome: Chronicles of an Isekai'd Legion-Chapter 36B3 : Congratulations!

B3 Chapter 36: Congratulations!

Marcus stared at the two beauties before him as they stepped back, both beaming at him with open affection. They looked as eager as puppies greeting their master after too long a time apart.

The Novaran princesses were a uniquely tight-knit pair, even by twin standards. The fact that they'd both been offered the class of [Twin Princess] upon unlocking the System certainly hadn't helped, either. It was said that the few differences that Brianna and Rosa had in physical appearance and even personality had been essentially wiped away after taking the class, leaving them truly identical. Some even joked that they hardly needed a mirror between them.

Of course, that wasn't the full extent of their quirks. The twins also seemed to share a near telepathic understanding of each other's thoughts and feelings. Something that caused the castle staff no end of consternation as they employed their abilities to great effect in all manner of pranks.

In all honesty, the princesses were quite the handful. They had never quite outgrown their mischievous nature—something that Marcus had learned for himself. He hadn't even realized that the princesses were switching off sleeping with him for a month. Honestly, he probably would never have figured it out without them surprising him together in their chambers. That was when he'd discovered that their connection also had some more… interesting implications, in certain situations. Ones that they'd been rather enthusiastic about. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

It was one of the reasons they'd been able to evade detection for so long. Though as with all good things, it had to come to an end eventually.

But now… Marcus swallowed. The idea of picking up where they'd left off was enticing. And unlike with most of his lovers, his leaving hadn't been entirely of his own volition. Though they were certainly more than he bargained for it was probably every man’s dream, but it was too much. He'd had quite a good excuse to flee, so he suffered none of the usual repercussions that accompanied a jilted lover—for once.

Yet something about the entire situation seemed… off. For some reason, his gut had been screaming at him with alarm ever since he'd entered the room.

His bad feeling intensified as he heard the Legionnaire behind him struggling to hold in laughter. He glanced over at the man with confusion. He sensed no malice in the man, and he'd thought his own reaction to the unexpected reunion had been quite graceful. So what exactly was he finding such humor in?

Before Marcus could ask the man, the princesses began to speak. “We never thought we’d see you again,” one of them—he decided to call her Brianna—pulled away to grace him with a smile like the rising of the sun. “Not with how father chased you off.”

Rose picked up without missing a beat. “But now that you’re here… We can share the good news.”

His eyebrows rose. “Good news?”

"Here," Brianna reached for his hand and pressed it against her stomach. His brow furrowed with confusion. He'd obviously noticed their weight gain, but why—

Something wiggled beneath his palm. A small impact struck his hand, causing him to flinch back reflexively. Then, it clicked.

Marcus froze in as all the blood drained from his face. The times in his life where he had found himself truly speechless were few and far between. But this certainly qualified for that dubious honor. Not even all of his performance skills together could have let him maintain his composure.

His ears rang. The tower, the [Twin Princesses], the Legionnaire who was now openly laughing—all of it faded to the background as Marcus's panicked mind struggled to process the reality in front of him.

After what felt like an eternity, he looked at the two excited women again. His eyes darted from the princesses to their stomachs and back again.

“Both… both of you?” He managed to croak out.

They nodded in unison, beaming the whole while. Marcus closed his eyes and focused on breathing. He had royally fucked up. In every sense of the phrase.

***

As time passed, Tiberius fell into a routine—one novel to him, but one familiar to others. One that involved the ruling and maintenance of his fledgeling country.

Well, calling it a country was a bit generous. In reality, the collection of territories that now comprised Rome were held together by little more than string and twigs. Though he now ruled Novara as a whole, he only felt truly confident in his hold over the territories his men had already personally conquered. The rest would come with time.

With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the latest noble from his sight, the man bowing deferentially as he backed away. Tiberius already had centuries working to canvas the surrounding lands for that very reason. As for the lords and ladies of the surrounding fiefs… well, those were another matter. While some had made the wise decision of deferring peaceably to their new ruler, others were quite clearly dragging their heels.

Bandits, monster raids, the sudden appearance of a roaming boss in their lands—the excuses for why they could not come to meet with the emperor personally were varied. Some of them were likely even true. But others he suspected were little more than smokescreens meant to buy time for less honest purposes.

Whatever the case, Tiberius would handle them soon enough. In the meantime, he had plenty of other matters to occupy his attention. Most importantly, the further consolidation of political power.

He hid a look of distaste. Though he'd always preferred the battlefield to the senate, it seemed that his experience with the latter was proving far more relevant than he would have liked. Not that he was ever an extremely active politician. But one could not entirely escape the game of faction-building that all senators constantly engaged in. As such, he knew that building up an imperial faction of nobles completely loyal to him, rather than any other outside influence, was an absolute must.

Of course, there would always be opposition. There already was. The churches, the more scheming elements of the nobility, rebels who stood against Rome, and certainly more. But at the same time, some opposition within was good. He just needed to manage it.

The man came to a halt before the throne—its seat now considerably less cluttered with pillows—and briefly inclined his head. Tiberius's honor guard of centurions kept a watchful eye, but he sensed no hostility from the man. Not that it was expected. The Adventurers' Guild had professed neutrality so far. It was one of the things that Tiberius sought to address.

“Guildmaster Hyde,” Tiberius met the man's steady gaze. “Allow me to first offer you my thanks. Your organization’s assistance with the orc threat did not go unremarked.”

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The guildmaster grunted. “Make no mistake. Our help was not for your benefit. It was for our own. A Novara that hasn't been razed to the ground is in the guild's best interests.”

“And yet you refrained from attacking my men as they took over the city,” Tiberius pointed out.

It was mostly the truth. There had been a handful of adventures who had stood against them, not even including those who had defended the castle. But it had been quite clear that all of those were acting as individuals, not at the orders of the guild.

Hyde shrugged. “As I said, it's in our best interests for Novara to remain standing. But who sits on the throne is none of our concern. It's guild policy to avoid taking sides in matters of politics.”

This was not exactly news to Tiberius. Yet it was something that he sought to change.

“I see,” he replied simply. “Unless you are offered an appropriate price, I presume.”

“The jobs and quests our members choose to take on are their business. Some of them may be posted by a political faction to meet their ends, although we do have guidelines regarding what can and cannot be posted,” the man explained. “But guild involvement as a whole? Good luck buying that.”

“Hmmm.” He tapped one finger on the arm of his throne. “Let me be frank. Why should I allow your organization to continue operating out of my city?”

The guildmaster’s brow furrowed. “I don't see why you wouldn't. We operate out of nearly every major city and have since our inception.”

“Then you should be able to justify your existence with ease,” Tiberius said. He was genuinely curious what the man would say.

The man shook his head and sighed, but began to rattle off reasons nonetheless. “The guild provides a number of valuable services. Monster hunting, keeping the countryside safe, dealing with sudden and unexpected threats… Anything to do with keeping the populace safe and addressing problems too small, large, or numerous to be handled by the army. And that's not even considering the number of gathering quests our people get sent on for the local crafters and herbalists. We are a central part of the economy and defense of any place we establish a branch.”

Tiberius frowned. He saw the potential uses of having adventurers on hand rather than the Legion needing to handle every problem themselves. At the same time, having a concentrated force of armed mercenaries in the middle of the city, ones that were not only unaffiliated but potentially could be used against them? That was something he was far less keen on. Even the assurances of organizational neutrality brought him little comfort.

He'd tolerated their presence in Hausten, though their branch was much smaller there. But here, in the capital? Especially after so many had taken contracts to fight against the Legion? He was not particularly keen to let them continue so easily.

“Reasonable justifications indeed,” Tiberius admitted, “although I suspect that my soldiers will find themselves more able to handle much more of that work than the previous administrations’s troops. Though that begs another question. Why should I allow you to continue operating independently?”

Hyde’s eyes narrowed as his expression turned cold. “Because the adventurer’s guild always operates independently. Otherwise, we do not operate at all. If you were to press the issue… I highly doubt that you would manage to keep the local adventurers around for long. They are a free-spirited lot, used to doing as they please, and I have no doubts their paths would end up in other kingdoms where that freedom is not called into question. Those of the dwarves or other humans. And if that happens, then who’s to say they wouldn’t support those factions if war were to break out? Such times are usually rife with mercenary contracts, after all.”

That didn’t particularly worry Tiberius. His experience so far had shown that his Legions were more than enough to deal with such forces. Rather, he wanted to bring the Adventurers' Guild under his wing as a potential recruiting ground for the Legion.

Although they had the auxiliaries in training and the elves to bolster their numbers, Tiberius knew that they would need more men if they were to continue keeping their forces healthy. And sure, any adventurer would need to undergo quite a bit of training and education in order to truly become Roman. But when it came to finding powerful individuals to choose from? There hardly seemed a better place to look than this.

Yet It was seeming like he would need to temper his expectations somewhat. Forcefully seizing the guild was an option, of course, but not one that Tiberius particularly wanted to employ. Not given his ultimate goal.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Hyde continued, seeming to sense Tiberius’s thoughts. “Although a number of our more powerful members perished in the recent conflict, do not make the mistake of assuming they are the only ones. There are plenty more high-leveled individuals on our roster—some real monsters among them. And if the conveniences afforded to them by the guild were to come under attack… well, I suppose they wouldn’t take too kindly to that.”

Now it was Tiberius’s turn to narrow his eyes. “Is that a threat, guildmaster?”

“Not at all,” the man replied calmly. “Simply an analysis of what might happen in a case such as the one you describe. The fact that even late king Gerald wasn’t fool enough to try such a thing should speak volumes.”

The emperor set his jaw, then shook his head. It was a heavy-handed threat—albeit one made tactfully. Though Tiberius was confident in their ability to take on adventurers of the levels they’d seen so far, who was to say they could handle even a single monster like Grand Mage Claude?

“I see.” He gestured toward the guild master. “I have made a decision. For the moment, the Adventurers’ guild will be permitted to operate in Novara with its usual independence. However, I have some conditions regarding the prioritization of our own requests and potential actions of your organization.”

Hyde grinned. “That, I can do. Let’s talk business.”

They went back and forth for a while longer, hashing out the details of a new agreement. Despite Hyde’s claim of independence, he seemed more than willing to allow Tiberius a bit more influence over the guild’s priorities and operations than expected. Within reason, of course. There were plenty of points that the man pushed back on, although Tiberius made a note to press on those in the near future.

As they finished and the guildmaster finally left, Tiberius turned to Lucius. “Is that the last one?”

His aide nodded. “For the moment. You have some time before the next meeting.”

Tiberius sighed and stood, stretching. “Excellent. Come, then. I need to use the class stone.”

He swept from the room, his honor guard and Lucius clustering about him as they made their way to the class stone deeper within the castle. It was the most ornate one Tiberius had seen yet, trimmed with gold and encased in clear gemstones that flickered with light.

“Leave me be,” Tiberius commanded as he stepped into the room. “I do not wish to be disturbed.”

His guards obligingly moved to watch the doors. It left him feeling a bit exposed. However, it couldn’t be helped. Tiberius was not yet ready to reveal that his leveling was now separate from that of the Legion—something that would become obvious once he touched the stone. Because he had gained at least one level. Of that, there was no doubt.

Tiberius stepped forward and touched the monolith’s surface. His vision filled with an intense golden light—not as blinding as the one that accompanied a Legion level, but radiant nonetheless. Then, his stat sheet materialized before him.

Information:

Name: Tiberius Rufius Maro

Age: 54 (LIV)

Class: Emperor (Mythical)

Level: 16 (XVI)

Experience: 10/1600 (X/MDC)

Stats:

Strength: 12 (XII)

Dexterity: 11 (XI)

Constitution: 14 (XIV)

Charisma: 21 (XXI)

Wisdom: 15 (XV)

Intelligence: 15 (XV)

Free Points: 120

Titles:

Born to Rule

Born to Conquer

Bonds of Brotherhood

Conqueror of Towns

Roman Emperor

Bane of Cats (III)

Bane of Spiders (II)

Bane of Ghouls (IV)

Boss Slayer (I)

Craftsman (III)

Blood on Your Hands (II)

Titanslayer

Warforged (I)

King

Imperator

Expansionist (II)

Conquering Hero

Skills:

[Logistics] (Uncommon) - Lvl 50

[Swordsmastery] (Rare) - Lvl 3

[Rallying Cry] (Uncommon) - Lvl 23

[Keen Eye] (Uncommon) - Lvl 52

[Paths of Victory] (Rare) - Lvl 9

[Warpath] (Rare) - Lvl 7

[Diplomacy] (Uncommon) - Lvl 19

[Military Leadership] (Uncommon) - Lvl 89

[Inspiring Oration] (Rare) - Lvl 6

[Regal Bearing] (Rare) - Lvl 5