Gaius Julius Caesar
As I gazed at the reflection of my face on the surface of the river water, everything was clear, I had returned to my youthful form. I remembered that the image I was looking at was me when I was in my nineteen or twenties. Fortunately, the firm jaw and slightly crooked nose that exuded my manly aura were still in place.
And as I dipped my index finger into the surface of the water, I could feel a cool, refreshing sensation that gave me enough reason to drink it immediately.
I put my palms together then drank the river water, and my dry throat that never seemed to get water was wet again. With those stimuli, my reason to believe that I was still alive was complete.
Thank you Jupiter.
After taking a few sips, I stood up and picked up an iron sword lying beside me. I don't know who put it here, when I opened my eyes, the sword was already in my hand along with the iron armour that was properly worn on my body, and don't forget a folded piece of red cloth next to where I was lying.
The sweet words from that sweet woman came to my mind. 'Free my world, and I will offer myself in return.'. I knew there was something wrong with this world, and I knew that I wasn't resurrected for nothing.
But liberated from what?
Darkness? But I couldn't turn a night into day.
Warfare? But I achieved my glory through it.
Slavery? It's one of my sources of wealth.
I don't know, I'll think about it later. Too much thinking leads to baldness, and I don't want to lose my glorious charismatic bushy hair.
Sorry miss, before I free your world, there's a stomach to free from hunger. Now I'm going hunting.
Since Jupiter didn't give me a spear, I constructed my own. I tell you, hunting with a spear will be much easier than with a sword. I also don't want my sword to become dull.
I got a stick and a stone that was sharp enough, just clashed it with another stone to increase its sharpness, and I got a pointed stone that was strong enough to pierce the skin of living things.
After a while, my spear was finished, and I was ready to hunt.
I stepped into the towering trees, and the most tedious part of hunting arrived; finding prey.
But to my surprise, I met a deer within fifteen minutes. Poor deer.
That night I took shelter under a tree, roofed with leaves and warmed by a campfire and venison. The rest of the meat would spoil in a day, so I ate as much as I could and had a little left over for breakfast. Had it been winter, the meat might have lasted longer.
A drop of water patting my cheek, I realised the rain had arrived, what an unlucky night. Tomorrow I have to find a settlement where I can take shelter, too much exposure to rainwater can make you sick.
Let the fire burn, to scare away wild animals from attacking me. The smoke rises, filling the once clean air with no pollution. Because of the rain, this fire probably won't last an hour, and before it dies, I need to sleep.
***
The chirping of birds woke me up, the rain had stopped, I could tell without opening my eyes by feeling the cool air that did not touch the word cold.
I stood up, lit a fire, cooked some of yesterday's leftover venison, ate it, packed my things, and left.
North, for some reason I have an instinct to go north. Last time I went there, I discovered a new land that I named Britannia. Well, that's not quite a 'New Land'.
And with this instinct I went there.
The direction I was heading in turned out to be in the direction of the river, and most of the settlements were built near the river to feed the people.
The Egyptian civilisation, for example, was built on the banks of the mighty Nile, one of the oldest civilisations ever recorded in history. And long before them, the Babylonian civilisation had established its homes on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
And here it is.
After only fifteen minutes walking to north, I met the sound of horses' footsteps, four of them it seemed. Accompanied by a rustling sound that sounded like steel armour. Four cavalrymen were near my position.
And after a few seconds, I met up with them.
Four cavalrymen, just as I had expected. They carried silver armour that covered almost their entire bodies. At the waist, wrapped around a sword sheathed in a scabbard, and on the head, a helmet that covered the entire face, with small striped holes to see through.
Although their armour was similar, I could tell that the foremost one was a woman. Her waist was quite small compared to the other cavalrymen, and looking at her hands.. That is not the hands of a man, they were too small.
"Stop right there!"
The one at the forefront shouted while pulling out a sword, her voice was better called shrill than firm, fulfilling my reason to think of her as a woman.
"Who and where are you from?" she asked.
The others pulled out their weapons, spurred their horses and moved to surround me.
With my chin slightly raised, I asked; "Why do you ask that?"
"Whether you're a soldier from any country, it's clear that you're in the territory of the kingdom of Voretamia. Surrender yourself peacefully, or bloodshed is inevitable!"
I readied my sword. "Too bad, it looks like bloodshed is inevitable."
I dodged a slash from behind, turned my body, and swung my sword across the neck of the horse the slasher was riding.
The fall of the slasher gave me an opening to break out of the siege. I ran past the lifeless body of the horse, then turned around and readied the horses. I was in a much better position now.
The one I killed was the horse of one of the cavalry, not the man, so there were still four of them. They seemed about to attack, but the woman raised her hand with an open palm, signaling for the others to be quiet.
She herself dismounted and spoke to me.
"I want a fair fight." she took out a sword and pointed the tip at me.
"But before one of us dies, I want to know your name."
"I refuse."
"No problem, but, which country's warrior are you?"
"Rome, Republic of Rome, I can't blame you if you don't know where it is."
"Your armor looks fancy, are you an officer?"
"Does it matter? Everyone is equal when they're fighting each other."
I couldn't see his expression as he fell silent behind the closed helmet. He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword and braced his footing, ready for a fight.
I swung my sword, he swiftly parried it and counterattacked.
Swing after swing he launched, his speed amazed me, but I was good enough to fend him off. It's just that I couldn't see an opening at all. All the moves she made were very effective in both offense and defense. If I forced myself to attack, she might have slashed my head first.
Moreover, look at the layer of steel covering his body, it's impossible for me to penetrate that thing in a single blow.
But a fight is not merely swinging swords at each other.
I kicked his leg, and without a balanced footing he fell, hit the muddy ground. Seeing an opportunity, I swung my sword at his wrist.
Damn, the iron glove was too thick. But even though I couldn't cut his hand, I was able to make a deep cut.
"You bastard!" he cursed.
Blood flowed from where I attacked him, now he couldn't use the sword with that hand.
I picked up a large rock and attacked his helmet with it, the attack was strong enough to leave a slight dent on the surface.
The next target was the back thigh that was not protected by armor, I pierced it with my sword, making sure to go as deep as possible so that he could not walk for a while.
"Aaagh!!!"
He screamed, his scream a little heavy as it was covered by his dented helmet, it must have been quite embarrassing.
"Stop right there!"
His subordinates acted, breaking the rules that had been set.
Without further ado, I drew my sword and pointed it at this woman's neck.
"Stop, or I'll cut her throat."
They stopped.
"What are you waiting for?! Seize him! He must be a warrior from across the sea!"
They didn't budge even though their leader (apparently) told them to.
This was a golden opportunity to negotiate.
"Let's negotiate."
"Negotiate?" one of the Cavalry replied.
"I don't mean to antagonize you. I'm just lost here."
"Don't listen to him! Kill!"
"I want you to take me to the nearest settlement, and I'll spare this man's life."
"Mercy?? Don't joke, kill me!"
The leading cavalry seemed to think for a moment, calculating the advantages and disadvantages.
"Just tell us where you're from, and we'll take you there." the cavalryman said.
"My general is such a bad person, he'd kill me for getting lost for two weeks," I lied.
The cavalryman turned to his comrades one by one, all his comrades nodded, signaling their agreement.
"Alright."
I pulled the corners of my lips up slightly, the agreement had been made.
"Now let's shake hands." I offered my hand, waiting for the cavalryman's warm reply.
He hesitantly extended his hand.
A fatal mistake.
Slassh
I slashed at his hand, this time accurately enough to pierce through the armor he was wearing.
"Aaaaah!!!"
He screamed, a pretty normal reaction for someone who lost his hand. Without wasting time I thrust my sword into his helmet, one was down, two more to go.
The rest immediately screamed while swinging their swords, I stepped back and beheaded the closest one to me. I did the same to the last one.
All three dead, the fight was over.
I breathed a sigh of relief, it was short and tense. My gray eyes looked back at the woman, I could hear her sniffling behind her helmet.
Despite her uncomfortable grumbling, I was curious about the face behind the helmet. I had never seen a woman lift a sword.
I forcibly removed the helmet, and what I saw left me gaping in disbelief. I've never met a woman as beautiful as her, never in my life. From the prostitutes, to the plebians, or even Patrician, none could compete with her.
Cornelia, Cornelia my wife... Perhaps she is the only one who deserves to be above this woman.
Her green eyes were puffy, seemingly unable to bear the pain I was inflicting, perhaps the worst of which was the punctured wound on her head from the rock I had hit her with earlier. But her beautiful face hinted that she was not frightened, but rather, angry.
His hair was black and messy, about the length of his neck. Her skin was reddish-white, her lips were pink and petite, and there was a scar next to her left eye.
"Kill me bastard!"
While I was captivated by her beauty, thick red liquid was still dripping from the wound I had stabbed.
If she died, it would be difficult for me to find a settlement as quickly as possible.
"Do you have any bandages?" I asked as I approached one of the horses that was still standing. Next to each horse's belly was a small bag useful for storing the necessities of a cavalryman, so there should be something I needed.
I found a bandage and drinking water stored in an animal skin bottle, since I might need water later, I took it without thinking.
I used the bandages I had to wrap around the woman's wound. She protested when I was wrapping the wound, but eventually everything was done.
"Now that I have spared your life and treated your wounds, I also did not rape you and sell you as a slave, now show me the nearest settlement in return."
"I'm not asking you, damn it!"
"Give up, our fight is over."
"Our fight will only end if you kill me!"
For a moment, my gaze was fixed on a horse. It seemed to be this woman's horse. A white horse that looked elegant and athletic, it must be very expensive.
I approached it and stroked it gently, although there was some resistance but it was okay after a while. "Nice horse."
"Don't touch him!"
"If you won't show me the way, I'll take this horse."
I jumped up onto it. This horse show a strong resistance. I was tossed around on it for a few minutes, until it finally gave up.
"Impossible! It took me two months to tame him!"
"That's because you're stupid."
I jumped down from my mount, and held out my hand.
"Just show me the way, miss, I know you love your horse, right?"