Wild Dragon of Rome 27

When I arrived at the shore, Lillian was already a hundred feet away from the shore, behind a large rock, breathing hard as she battled exhaustion. Trying to push the boat to the shore faster than the pirate ship while trying to defend herself against the constant ranged attack of two mages and a dozen ballistas was challenging.

I hadn’t seen her, as I was busy dealing with the captain for a few seconds, but from her exhausted state, I surmise that she tried to block all of them rather than only the ones with the risk of actual collusion. A mistake, but an inevitable one.

Even as I approached her, I shivered, not because of the close call we had, but wondering what my grandfather would have done during the aftermath. Though, I didn’t have wonder for long. My memories had the answer.

It wouldn’t be fun. I decided to choose the other way.

“Congratulations, beautiful. We survived,” I said as I lifted Lillian in a bridal hold.

Her arms wrapped around my neck readily. A bit too tight in her desperation, enough to cut my breath if it wasn’t for my incredible physical improvements. “W-what do you mean. We still have a pirate ship to deal with. And, the captain —”

I interrupted her even as I started jogging deeper into the land. While the rest of the pirates didn’t have the ability to catch up with us without the captain, and likely had no will to chase us either, they were not our only enemies.

“Don’t worry. The captain is dead.”

Her eyes widened. “How —” she started, then froze, and a growl escaped. “He was underwater, right? And you didn’t warn me!”

“There was no time,” I said. “He thought himself invisible, which gave me one chance to deal with him easily. Would you like to have full information, and duel with him while he was trying to kill us rather than just ambush us to capture you?”

“Is this another Scipio strategy thing?” she asked.

“More or less,” I answered. “Now, hold tight. We’re going to run for a long time to make sure we won’t have any bothersome chase.”

“Pirates?” she asked.

“No. They lack the means to follow us. And, more importantly, with the captain dead, I doubt they would even bother trying to follow us. No, they have more important things to worry about. Like running away from their trade partners.”

Their mention had made Lillian tense. “Do you think they felt the battle? But it was more than ten miles away?”

“They might have not felt it, but even if it’s the case, they are too connected not to receive the news of what had just happened. And, meanwhile, local towns would send some forces to check. We should get away before they gather.”

Lillian took a deep breath as I ran faster and faster, ignoring my exhaustion even as I easily passed the speed of a horse. Running was far easier than rowing an oversized boat.

“Do you think they can find us still?” Lillian asked.

I would have liked to say no, but the ease they had been able to trigger an island-wide manhunt for me was still clear. “Depends,” I said.

“Depends on what?”

“It’s about their connections,” I said. “They clearly held a lot of influence over the regional governor of Britannia, but we don’t know if it’s about some kind of personal relationship between the governor and the sorcerer that they had been leading, or they have a similar connection on other provinces.”

“Surely not,” Lillian answered, though her voice fading with exhaustion. “Britannia is one thing. It’s more than a peripheral province. Western Gaul is an important province. Only the strongest politicians are assigned to the post. Even a sorcerer couldn’t act willfully.”

“True,” I said. There was nothing wrong with what she had said. Just the number of legions assigned to each province was enough to show the difference in importance. Britannia had only one legion; one that wasn’t even at full strength, barely above three thousand rather than forty-five hundred that it was supposed to reach, and undertrained — another topic my late grandfather had liked to ramble about.

Meanwhile, Western Gaul had five, while, Gaul as a whole had eight permanent legions assigned, and these legions were experienced due to constant border skirmishes at Germania, able to hold back the raids of the dangerous hordes of tribal beast tamers and shapeshifters.

However, more than their experience, the governor of Gaul was treated as the most important governorship since its inception. After all, the man who had first invaded Gaul had promptly used its strategic location to take over Rome, triggering the great civil war that lasted two generations and had been finally won by Brutus the Great and Cassius the Brave.

A war that had ended up in an unprecedented move. Total destruction of a founding Patrician House.

House Julia was no more…

Of course, that was not the end of the tumultuous history of the region. There had been different attempts to rule the region, from splitting into smaller regions to letting only the most loyal and the strongest regions take over the whole region. After a whole number of betrayals, rebellions, and political jockeying, the balance had been reached.

Western Gaul, the part that was fastest away from Rome, had been assigned five legions, the central Gaul had been assigned two, while the Eastern Gaul only assigned one. That way, Eastern Gaul, despite its financial potential, turned into more of a gatekeeper. Not strong enough to march on Rome, but just strong enough to slow down any political attempt.

Meanwhile, Western Gaul turned into a military center, ready to defend the border or intervene in other regions as needed.

It was a fascinating history, but it wasn’t good news for me. It told me that, if my secret was revealed, I would have the largest, most experienced, and dedicated army of Rome, consisting of five legendary legions, chasing me.

Not for a second, I believed my secret would trigger anything lesser if revealed. Luckily, for the moment, no one had seen anything. Both for the pirates, and for the mysterious other organization, our escape was about a lapse of judgment and Lillian’s unexpected skills.

I was thinking about those facts, because I needed to decide where to go. Trying to return to Britannia was out of the question. The sea voyage had been dangerous enough, and I was reluctant to repeat it. Trying to stay in Western Gaul was similarly out of the question. I could still control the bubbling mana inside of me, and Lillian could always help me to drain it.

But, the risk of an accident was too high. Sooner or later, a burst of mana would escape, drawing beasts and mages alike. When that happened, I didn’t want to be at the epicenter of five of the most experienced legions, each led by an experienced Legate who was likely an experienced sorcerer as well.

Not an odd I would like to take.

“Where are we going?” Lillian asked a while later, distracting me from my musings. “Returning to Britannia…” she started, but I chuckled, showing that it was out of the question. She just nodded, showing that we were on the same track. “We can’t stay in Western Gaul either. How about Central Gaul?”

“No, that’s a bad idea. For both of us. It makes it easier for them to search you if they are as determined as we fear, and for me, it means there’s no escape path if I slip up and let out another burst of mana. Not to mention, I can’t experiment anywhere near the cities.”

“What then. Are we going to try cut South until we can go to Hispania, or maybe Africa…” she started, then noticed my expression. Her eyes widened, and her expression turned lively despite her expression. “Not Germania! You can’t be serious!” she gasped. “They are nothing but a bunch of violent blood-thirsty tribes with barbaric magic.”

“Really, Miss Druid. You’re saying that,” I said.

She blushed, but continued. “Hey, the highland warriors are true and noble warriors. Not like those barbarians. You can’t trust Germanic tribes.”

I chuckled. “Of course, I’m not going to trust them,” I answered. “We’re just going to the border, and not the Germania itself. Even I’m not crazy enough to try crossing the Rhine River. Any location that could actually dissuade the Roman Republic from invading them is not one I want to poke.”

“What, then?” she asked.

“It doesn’t matter how much political influence our opponent has. The border is always a hotbed, and even a sorcerer couldn’t move around safely. Add in my enhanced senses that would allow us to move in the wilderness safely…” I said, then under her gaze, I amended it. “Well, relatively speaking,” I corrected.

She sighed as she closed her eyes. “Whatever you choose, I trust you,” she whispered, and tightened her arms.

I ran, trying to ignore the warmth that was spreading inside me. Surprisingly, it was harder to tame than anger…