<pfont-weight: 400″>After the elf and his entourage had left, Tiberius once more found himself at his desk studying the glass before him. Around him, the polished wood walls and fine windows of the former mayor’s manor shone with reflected sunlight, filling the room with a warm glow.

Though a Legatus’s place was with the Legion, Tiberius’s encounter with the envoy made him realize the importance of appearances. As such, he decided to make an effort to better acquaint himself with the manor and spend at least some time there. It was the best option they had for an emperor’s accommodations, after all.

He swirled the glass idly. A finger’s worth of dark liquid filled it, murky and brown. It wasn’t the best spirits he’d ever had. In fact, one of the only good things about it was its strength. But it was one of the only available options at the moment, which made it as valuable as liquid gold.

The liquor had been gifted to him by one of the locals—a rather sleazy-looking barkeep who’d apparently quite appreciated the ample business opportunities provided by the Legionnaires. But even more than that, Tiberius found himself fascinated by the glass that had come with it. It kept the drink cool, almost cold. He had obviously had chilled spirits before, but never like this, and certainly not outside of particularly fine settings.

Tiberius lifted the glass to his nose and sniffed before taking a minuscule sip. He set the glass back down exactly in the ring of moisture that had been left on his desk and turned his attention to the figure across from him. Marcus’s glass was significantly emptier, the man sitting in uncharacteristic silence as they both drank.

Leaning back in his seat, Tiberius considered where to start. He’d learned so much from Iladrien’s visit and was still processing the implications. But there were a few questions that stood on the forefront of his mind.

He fixed Marcus with an intense stare. “Did you know about this? About Rome’s history?”

To his credit the bard seemed completely unphased as he shook his head. “In this world? No. Based on what Iladrien said, all of that was before the War of the Gods, and well… suffice it to say that not much civilization remained after that. If it was actually real, of course. It’s been more of a legend to my understanding. Either way, the world has seen more than a few kingdoms rise and fall since then.”

“The elf said it was many of his generations. That would mean hundreds of human ones,” Tiberius commented absently as he took another sip of his drink. He stifled a grimace. It felt as though someone had poured a pot of burning oil straight down his throat.

Marcus nodded. “That sounds about right. I don’t know if there’s a mortal alive who would remember that time. I believe the Novaran Kingdom has only been around for a couple hundred years, and the kingdom before that? Well, there wasn’t really much of a kingdom besides a bunch of warring city-states. And those two would hardly cover a single elven generation.”

Tiberius nodded, tapping his chin. That wasn’t unlike Rome’s own history. But that just confirmed that the timelines didn’t add up. Perhaps time worked different between worlds?

The conversation died off briefly as they both fell into deep thought. Considering the gaps in their knowledge, they could only speculate what had happened to this “old Rome.” Iladrien said the empire had collapsed rather than been conquered. That narrowed things down, but still left plenty of options. Infighting, corruption, famine… the list went on and on.

Regardless of what had happened, however, there should be some evidence. Some relics or histories from that era. Perhaps they were under the care of the elves? It was possible, seeing as they were the only ones with knowledge of that era.

“…The real question is, how did they get here?”The Legatus mused. “Did they arrive here by the same mechanism that we did? Or in some other manner?”

Marcus shifted. Tiberius noted the slightest bit of tension entering the bard’s posture as he shrugged. “Were there other legions missing? How many legions did Rome have?”

Tiberius paused, thinking back. “I’m not certain. There were no missing ones that I was aware of in my time, but there have always been legends of lost legions, often ones that ventured up to Britannia or to the Far East. But the veracity of such claims is… debatable. They’re legends for a reason. However… that is beside the point.”

He fixed Marcus with a hard stare. “Iladrien seemed to think you were somehow involved in our appearance here. If I did not miss my mark, that is. And based on your reaction, I highly doubt that I do.”

Marcus grimaced at the change in topic. He lifted his glass, downing the remainder of its contents in one gulp. His reaction betrayed nothing at all of its poor quality. Tiberius couldn’t help but be a bit impressed.

“…I suppose there’s no sense in hiding it, is there?” Marcus sighed. “I did not intend to conceal information, you understand. It was merely a matter of self preservation, of ensuring that you would not seek revenge on me before I had a chance to properly explain.”

“That sounds quite a bit like concealing information.”

“Not permanently! It’s… well, anyway.” Marcus cleared his throat as Tiberius continued to stare him down. “To put it simply… yes, I did play a role in your appearance here. An unintentional one only, as I had no idea my actions would lead to such an outcome…”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

And so, the bard launched into a tale, this one of his own actions. About how he’d found a strange book and cast the spell within its pages. About the Legion’s arrival and subsequent taking of Habersville from his perspective. There were certain points where he could tell that Marcus glossed over details—most notably what had prompted him to cast the spell in the first place—but Tiberius allowed it. Those details weren’t what interested him.

When his story was finished, Tiberius took another thoughtful sip of his drink. “So. You are the reason we are here.”

“…More or less, yes.” Marcus confirmed, sighing. “Although I would like to put at least some of the blame on whatever wizard wrote that spell. They really should have included more information about what it did.”

Tiberius couldn’t help but snort. In all honesty, he didn’t entirely care about the bard’s role here, although it did explain a few things about his eagerness to become involved with them. Still, Marcus seemed to think that it was something worth being upset about, so he’d use the leverage.

“I will think of some way for you to atone for this,” Tiberius waved him off. “In the meantime, this spellbook you mentioned…”

“Well, it isn’t so much a ’spellbook’ but rather a book with a spell in it,” Marcus corrected. “Although even that isn’t true anymore. The spell burned itself out, so I’d be unable to summon another Legion even if I wanted to.”

“Did the book disappear as well?”

Marcus hesitated for a second. He seemed to weigh his options and conclude that it was in his best interest to practice honesty. For now.

Marcus produced a thick book with leather bindings from beneath his cloak. Its cover was embossed with a golden eagle on the cover and the letters “SPQR.” He passed it over, and Tiberius flipped open the cover.

“It seems to be a kind of treatise on your culture,” Marcus explained. “At least, from what I can tell. It’s been quite useful in understanding your ways.”

As Marcus explained, Tiberius flipped through the pages, skimming their contents. The bard was right. Even more shocking than the accuracy of the text, however, was the level of detail it went into. From government to culture to their gods, the book was remarkably thorough, if a little outdated.

After he finished flipping through, he closed the tome with a solid whumph and put his hand on top of it. “I see. If this book was created by the so-called ’Romans’ that came before us… then I suppose it lends credence to them hailing from the same empire as we do. Perhaps they were one of those lost legions.”

The matter of the timelines still didn’t quite add up, of course. But it was the best idea they had. As for what that information got them, well, Tiberius wasn’t completely sure yet. It was another piece of the puzzle, but still didn’t give them the whole picture.

“…What about a return spell?” Tiberius asked.

Marcus shook his head. “There wasn’t one. Believe me, I looked… For your sakes, obviously!” He added the last part hurriedly. “And since you’re actual people rather than summoned constructs or beasts, it’s not as simple as canceling it. There’s no longer anything to cancel. Maybe some expert in dimensionalism or astral travel may have some insight, but short of that…”

Tiberius nodded. He hadn’t expected anything less. Still, it was good to have confirmation.

“You said you located the book in some ruins. Where are they?”

“Ah!” Marcus nodded. “Not too far from here, actually. I can show you. One of my, er… former acquaintances… took me to them not too long before you arrived. Perhaps you’ll find something interesting there. Although that was the only book I saw.”

“Hmm,” Tiberius tapped a finger on the book. “Well, the elves seem to know more than expected. Perhaps they also have other relics hidden away.”

Or perhaps they had been the ones to scrub Rome’s existence from history. Of course, Tiberius didn’t voice the thought aloud. Iladrien seemed amicable, but he still couldn’t quite be sure what his stance on Rome truly was. Not without more information.

It seemed like they were friendly with old Rome, and Iladrain had mentioned that the elves were ruled by a Senate. Perhaps that meant their governing system was like that of the Roman Republic? Still, even if they had considered themselves Roman or a Roman province, how would they feel about Tiberius and his men’s appearance? Would they reject them as weaklings and pretenders? Or would they want to bend the knee?

Tiberius wouldn’t imagine he would do so in their place. They may even reject his claim of emperorship. If that happened… did they have the strength to take on the elves? Maybe it would be better to seek a spot in their senate…

He shook his head. He was getting ahead of himself. Besides, he’d already been declared emperor by the System. Surely that counted for something.

Tiberius let out a small sigh before taking another drink. It might be too much to hope that integrating the elves would be so simple. But at the very least, perhaps they could get more information out of them. If they did prove as well-disposed toward Rome as Ithilien suggested.

“Meet here tomorrow morning,” Tiberius told Marcus. “I want you to show us the way to these ruins.”

Marcus caught the implied dismissal, standing up and bowing.”Of course. It would be my pleasure to show you around.”

As the bard left, Tiberius settled back in his chair to think. The day had brought more revelations than he’d been prepared to handle. The implications of an ancient civilization that was somehow the same as his own… he was intensely curious if he could find out more. If there was anything he could learn about how they’d interacted with the System, how they’d conquered, and how they’d fallen, then such lessons would be invaluable. It could save them much trial and error.

More than the practical benefits, however, the idea made him feel so… small. As if the world was so much bigger and more vast than he had ever thought before.

Back home, whenever he was on campaign, he was the absolute authority for decades. He was used to showing up at a place and having its citizens fall, bend the knee, and welcome him with supplication. He was only ever at a disadvantage when he was in the capital, talking to equals or the emperor. Not that he tried to do that much. But here, well… things were different.

The feeling wasn’t helped by the realization that the gods were real. Obviously, he paid lip service to the gods back in Rome, but never bought into the idea of them interacting with the world directly much. But now he might need to take his offerings to Mars much more seriously.

“Sir!”

He was roused from his musings by a messenger knocking at the door. He motioned for the man to come in. “Legatus, the Primus Pilus has returned. He wishes to report to you immediately.”

Tiberius nodded. “Send him in.”

In a moment, the centurion was standing before him, face still dusty from the road. The fact that the man hadn’t even stopped at the bathhouse suggested that his news was quite important indeed. After a quick salute, Quintus began.

“Sir. The baron has made his move.”

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