After waking up from his dream, Jae-hoon returned to his bedroom.
When the vague consciousness returned, the contents of the book he had read in my dream vividly came to mind.
Jae-hoon was convinced that he wasn't just dreaming a silly dream, so he forced himself to hold back the laughter that was about to burst.
"What the hell is the reason? Is it because I moved here from the library?"
There was nothing to fear if the consciousness of dreaming was still connected to the library over there.
If you can find as much knowledge as you need, what can't you do?
Not to mention gaining the power of Rome, he could also bring about a technological revolution hundreds of years ahead of time.
To put it mildly, with a little exaggeration, he could become a divine being in this world.
However, did they say that arrogance is a shortcut to defeat?
Jae-hoon's heart, which had been swollen to the fullest, cooled down within a day.
Somehow he fell asleep again and entered the world of dreams, but something was strange.
All the books that were so much plugged in disappeared, leaving only one.
One remaining book was the same book Jae-hoon took out in his dream yesterday.
He was overwhelmed with the thought of starting a technological revolution by reading all kinds of books, but it was futile.
Still, should he say it's a relief if it's fortunate that he can continue to read even the first book he took out?
"Was it possible to read only one book?"
If he thought about it calmly, there was no way he could use this ridiculous ability indefinitely.
He should have considered the possibility of limiting the number of times before bottling up the kimchi.
'But there's only one restriction...… It doesn't make sense.'
Of course, the cheat key of Cheong* leakage level showed all the details of the future history.
This alone is enough to reach the peak of Rome.
Still, if he knew that there was only one restriction, he would have been much more careful when choosing a book for the first time.
'No, there's no way I can only take out one book. There must be a condition.'
He reviewed the number of cases, but he couldn't do anything now because he couldn't verify them.
Jae-hoon, who woke up from his dream and returned to reality, automatically smiled bitterly.
He feels uncomfortable, as if he received it and took it away, but what can he do?
The fact that the current situation alone has an overwhelming advantage over anyone does not change.
What's left is entirely up to his mind.
'If you jump in with a clumsy determination, you will not be able to eat rice or porridge. Now that I'm determined to step into this game, I must reach the peak.'
Jae-hoon, who had been thinking about this and that for a long time, suddenly thought about the slaves he had brought.
"Septimus, where is the child I brought now?"
"She is so exhausted, so I'm order someone washing herself thoroughly and make her resting."
"Good job. Can I see her now?"
"You'd better do that. She doesn't know why she's here, so she seems anxious. In fact, other people are confused because they don't know why. We need guidance on how to treat her in the future."
It means to clarify the purpose of the intention.
Jae-hoon nodded calmly.
Jae-hoon bit Septimus and went to see the girl alone.
The girl woke up from her sleep on the bed with a blank look on her face.
She just washed it clean, but she couldn't recognize it.
Perhaps because of the reliable nutrition supply, the skin color, which was like a corpse, returned slightly.
The clothes Septimus gave her wore were long tunica of white, ankle-length.
"The bruises on the body will disappear over time, so you don't have to worry. You can understand what I'm saying, right?"
When Jae-hoon spoke, the girl suddenly got up from her seat and tried to kneel down.
"I'm not feeling well, but I'm just lying down. I am not that tight."
"Yes, thank you. My merciful master."
"Don't worry about the old master, just call him a young master."
The girl spoke Latin with a slightly crude accent but enough to listen to.
Eyes mixed with fear, gratitude, and anxiety stared at Jae-hoon.
Holding her trembling hands tightly, she squeezed out her words with courage.
"Well, I'm good at cleaning and listening to orders. Please don't hit me. I'll do everything I'm told."
The girl shrank reflexively after finishing her speech. Did she think she would get beaten up for the asking too much?
Jae-hoon, who did not know what she had been through so far, could not guess.
So he spoke softly, reassuringly.
"No one is going to hit you here. As the eldest son of this family, I guarantee it. Most of my family's slaves are professionals. The treatment is different from other places."
The girl's eyes were filled with expectations instead of fear.
The brown eyes, which had been dead, now looked like the eyes of a living person.
"Yes… thank you... I do."
"What's your name?"
"In my hometown, I used the name Danae. Here...."
"Then I'll just call you Danae. I have my original name, but calling it by the name I got when I became a slave is a bit silly. Danae is a Greek name, but is your hometown west of Thrace?"
"Yes, it was almost a region bordering Greece. I was taken as a slave there, and so far...…."
Danae's eyes were slightly teary. It is so common to be a free citizen and then become a slave that it is not much to talk about.
However, from the person concerned's viewpoint, it cannot be passed over, even if it is not a big deal.
"What about your family? Do you want to find them again?"
"My parents died and my younger brother who was caught with me...… He's probably dead by now. He was so weak."
"I see. So, how do you want to live in the future?"
"Yes? That is, of course, the master's slave...… Well, I never had any disrespectful thoughts. I really have no desire to go back to being a free man or to escape! Trust me. I have the confidence to live as the master's faithful tool."
Danae's face turned pale, wondering if he had tested her loyalty.
She had seen many times and suffered firsthand how wretchedly a slave who wanted freedom was broken.
"Calm down. I'm not trying to sound at you with any intention, so just talk comfortably. I'm not a slave trader, I'm an aristocrat, so why would I do such a useless thing?"
"Yes...I see."
"In this world, a slave is nothing more than the master's property. But you must have been a person in the past. Now I call yourself a tool."
"The tools are...right."
Jae-hoon gently looked into her eyes. He didn't make it up by force, but he looked like he really thought so.
That is the law of the world.
Even those who cursed the status of slaves could not deny this law that binds them.
The law of the jungle.
The strong side is drunk, and the weak side is eaten.
It is natural for Rome, the hegemon of the Mediterranean, to rule weaker countries and peoples.
If the superiority of power were the opposite, the people who are being subjected to it would have done the same thing calmly.
"I won't deny it. Still, I'm giving you a chance to choose is giving. Will you become a slave who gives up your thoughts and lives only as you are told? Or will you become a person who can seriously question the world?"
"If I want to be liberated, you will let me be liberated...… Is that what you mean?"
Jae-hoon nodded.
"Have you seen Septimus? You can be like that as much as you put your mind to it."
Danae, who did not understand Jae-hoon's words properly, tilted her head.
It was the first time she had ever seen the aristocratic family of Rome, and it was natural that she had no way of knowing how the freed slaves who worked there were treated.
Danae, who recalled the word 'professionals' she heard a while ago, first raised the question.
"By any chance... ...such as letters and counting methods...… Can I get an education? Am I?"
Jae-hoon smiled.
"If you want, I'll give you an equal education with men. If you prove your worth, you can be liberated. But no matter how much you do, you're a freed slave from Thrace, plus a woman. The more knowledge you have and the wider you see the world, the deeper your frustration may be. You may think it's better to grow up as a full slave who doesn't know anything."
"...."
"I don't want to go out for people who just stand still like trees wishing for rain from the sky. The choice is yours. I'm just giving you a chance. If you want to be someone, not a tool, I can fully support it."
Jae-hoon shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing.
"I'm not saying I'm going to save your life grandiosely because I want to look like a nice guy. I just do it because I can. You don't have to stress too much."
"Well, I...."
Danae's voice trembled. Jae-hoon's words shook the whole world she had stepped on so far.
He wasn't a pretentious aristocrat.
The fire returned to her eyes, which were weighed down by the brutal reality. And her lips trembled.
Soon, tears got wet in her brown eyes and flowed down her face. And she sobbed as if the blocked bank had burst.
It was a cry with many meanings.
Resentment towards the fate of being enslaved and those around her who made her that way.
The relief of having regained hope and the earnest desire to live like a human being.
Jae-hoon leaned out and patted her on the back.
"Let's pretend we heard the answer."
"Sorry, sorry... I do, and thank you very much."
"I'll let you know what you have to do as soon as you feel better. Study hard."
Danae had hiccups several times and managed to stop crying.
"Excuse me... I haven't heard your name yet. Other people just call you Young Master...…."
"My name?"
Jae-hoon slowly took off and stood upright.
The bright sunlight coming through the courtyard shone on him.
Lee Jae-hoon put his name in his mouth as if he had made up his mind to himself.
That's right. He's not Lee Jae-hoon anymore.
"Marcus Licinius Crassus."
He will abandon the name Lee Jae-hoon and live as Marcus.
Having made a firm decision, he turned and left the room.
Now that I decided to go up, he couldn't spend any more time just playing around.
Rather than waiting until adulthood, he had to move diligently from now on and shape his plans.
To carry out the first step, Marcus went to find his father, Crassus.
TN:
* = It is a reference to the former official residence of the president of South Korea, Cheong Wa Dae, known as Blue House.