Imperator: Resurrection of an Empire
Chapter 160: Birth Of The Eternal City (3)

Chapter 160: Birth Of The Eternal City (3)

Going to war sounds like a simple thing, and well in a video game I guess it is, but when your life is that game you must announce that war, not exactly to your enemy but to your allies, in this case my own people.

And so, after calling a gathering within the capital while messengers rode out on fast horses to all corners of the realm Julius stood on the stone steps at the entrance to his palace gazing down a the mass of people before him.

"We have received an ultimatum from the Remnants of the Lunan Kingdom, and their new Queen. She demands the return of these lands, the subservience of its people, and the end of my life." <Julius>

Speaking slowly so that every word could be heard, while one could say it was not the truth surely if one saw the goings on in Lunan before its fall they would know it was not far from the truth.

The reaction from the crowd was as expected they were angry.

What had Lunan done for these people, these lands, for their lord?

And what now they make demands of them all?

"My people we understand how you feel, and so though it is far too early for such a thing, we are in a state of war. General Haddin shall be leading our armies to meet our opponents and repel their invading forces, know that so long as I wear this crown no harm shall come to our people, that being said we shall have more than adequate force present for our defence should another kingdom join hands with Lunan while our forces are engaged at the border." <Julius>

The people once again hung on his every word, not a single voice of dissent was heard against his decision for war.

"Praise be the gods, for our men’s safe return! Strength and Honor!" <Julius>

Providing a final prayer before performing the militaristic war chant of Rome, while likewise performing the salute.

The gathered crowd followed suit and responded with the war chant, and salute before breaking out into cheers and celebration before finally dispersing back into their lives.

______________________________________

The news spread like wildfire, and by the time the baron had reported the results back to his queen, Julius’s armies were already marching on the border at a rapid pace.

Zeff, and Julius had moved alongside their forces to the port of Nova Carthage where an equally start-up city had sprung up housing the citizens from Carthage.

An agreement was made with Queen Serena for the use of the ships and men required to crew them to ferry the two legions to outflank their opponent by way of attacking from both land and sea.

None but Carthage should yet know of Julius’s access to The Grand Fleet, and so all plans Hayna might come up with would be based on a land invasion and counter-invasion while her own people would be exhausted from the war that ended not a few months before.

Their loyalty to their queen and support for the war should be rock bottom.

This war would be over in a flash, or at least Julius hoped it would be.

The agreement for the loaning of the crews needed to man these ships was the building of similar tenement dwellings as witnessed in The Eternal City for her own people to stay in as most still had to share homes or live in tents while their own homes were built.

Julius of course agreed to this and by use of build points quickly erected multiple such buildings.

Miri meanwhile had come and was endlessly fussing over Zeff, constantly nagging him about how he ought to really learn to swim if he was going to battle by way of ship, but this was merely just her being worried for her love.

Julius however had a new problem to deal with.

And sadly not of a different sort from Zeff.

In fact, his troubles were greater, as he had both a Former Queen and a Former Princess fussing over him.

It had been known for a while now but it was becoming increasingly obvious that while the people’s rumour spread the desire to see their new King matched up with one or even both of these ladies and shockingly still both seemed desperate to make it so, well desperate enough to never broach the subject in front of Julius himself but he knew.

His goal was not personal but professional, he wanted to claim this world for his own and win the grandest title of them all, but to secure the loyalties of his people, and retainers bending his own stance and taking them on in a formal capacity might be something he needs to do.

By marrying the Former Queen he could guarantee the Carthage citizen’s loyalties to his rule, while Yuri would open the gateway for the right to rule Roserun, a kingdom that had been making suspicious moves recently while still weakened from their war with Bridget they were focusing on rapid military buildup rather than the restoration of their lands.

The marrying of Yuri could even spark the war with Roserun as doing so would be without the current king, Yuri’s brother’s permission, and since she left the boy king’s ear was heavily laden with his court’s words rather than his sisters like days of old.

Our lands would certainly appeal to them as fertile ground with riches they could use to further expand and pay for the restoration of their core lands.

Julius hadn’t quite made up his mind over it, as being an Earth soul the idea of multiple marriages sounded like a bad idea to him, but it’s not a thing unheard of in this world, as the gods here are similar to the pagan one on Earth, and polygamy, and even polyandry were widely accepted so long as the Head of the household be it man or woman could properly care for their spouses.

And this was also extended through to slaves...

Yes, his Grand Duchy endorsed the slave trade, but not like the one on earth, no no no.

The Grand Duchy followed rigorous slave trade rules managed by the Slave Guild whose rules were created by the Grand Duke himself.

First, there were only two kinds of slaves, Debt slaves who sold themselves into slavery to pay off a debt they owed, they would be guaranteed a fair wage, and basic living tools such as food clothing and Shelter, could not be overly abused, and if they did not agree could not be used for sexual means, those who did agree would be paid a higher wage even if they were not asked for such services.

The Second was criminal slaves, these would be closer to true slaves, and would likewise include captive soldiers or what would commonly be referred to as war slaves.

They would have the same rights to food, clothing and shelter, but not be paid a wage.

All slaves were bound by a magic tool, one created long ago by the Ancient Empire, which branded a tattoo on both Master and slave which would force the slave to obey so long as it did not break the Guilds, or the slave’s own personal contract.

The mark would likewise prevent the slave from killing their owner or any bearing his mark, or themselves.

A cleaned-up slave system as in this world the most useful resource was manpower, so for harsh crimes rather than death there was the alternative of slave labour, for those who go into debt rather than sell their full worth and then fall into dark jobs, they could sell themself on agreed upon terms managed by the state.

If a family fell into debt the father could sell himself with the money paying off the debt and the remainder going to his family, then from his wage, he could send any portion back to them, while saving up to purchase his own release at the same time.

This new war would surely see a surge in criminal slaves, and the battered Lunan Army would surely fall into capture by the Legions, and flood the marketplace with these enslaved men, but their fates would be far better than if the legions lost and had been enslaved as the policy of the world on slaves was worse than that which prevailed on Earth.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.