The carriage of Marcus and Spartacus headed toward Neapolis in the midday sun.
Marcus spent his time in silence, enjoying the worst ride he's now used to.
Spartacus stiffened his whole body with tension and fixed his eyes on the floor.
Marcus laughed a little because he didn't see this before Spartacus fought with Crixus.
"Are you nervous?"
"Yeah."
Spartacus' answer was immediate. His trembling heart seemed to be heard in Marcus' ears.
He is on his way to reunite with his wife, who was separated from him in faraway Thrace.
It would be a strange situation not to be nervous.
"It's okay. The appearance is the same, the name is the same, and the day you were brought to Rome from Thrace is exactly what you said. Oh, come to think of it, there was a saying that she was very good at cooking."
"It is true that my wife is good at cooking. When my acquaintances came, my wife cooked for me, and we all ate in admiration. It was my pride."
"Yeah. The characteristics match that much, so you can look forward to it. Fortunately, she was good at cooking, so she seemed to be living well without seeing anything rough."
A ray of hope bloomed on Spartacus' hard face. He tried to empty his mind not to be disappointed, but he couldn't.
"Neapolis is not too far from Capua, but I couldn't find her even just around the corner...…."
"You can't help it. You've been locked up in a Ludus Magnus, and your wife doesn't know the name Spartacus. And even if she knew, there wouldn't be a way to meet. Well, you'll be a free citizen when you return to Rome, so if you want to abandon the name Spartacus, you can."
"No. Even if I become a free citizen, I want to live under the name Spartacus now and forever. The person my colleagues entrusted to maintain is Spartacus, the gladiator of Capua. He is not a helpless man who no one in Thrace could protect."
After the war with the rebels, Spartacus' heart became stronger.
It's a skill aspect. It's been indescribable for a long time, and now he feels like he is almost complete mentally.
Now, no temptation will shake his mind if he finds his wife again.
'By the way, if Spartacus' wife is so good at cooking, should I ask her to work as my own chef?'
Perhaps because of the memory of his previous life, there were foods that he sometimes missed crazy.
He doesn't even want food that is hard to make, like kimchi.
However, he thought it would be possible to make a similar taste with gukbap*.
At first, even if it is too much, a person who is good at cooking can make it after some trial and error.
"There was a time when I wasn't jealous when I ate a bowl of gukbap* on a rainy day.… It's a shame I can't feel that feeling again.'
When he imagined offering gukbap* with the smell of pork to the people around him in the family mansion, he couldn't help but smile bitterly at how foreign it was.
Marcus soon shook his head to shake off his wild thoughts and checked what he had to do in the future.
He had to pay attention to so many things, even if it wasn't gukbap*.
The plan to win favor with the Senate went smoothly. Pompeius's strategy of concentrating the Senate's checks also matched nicely.
It was fortunate that Pompeius was a figure just as depicted in history.
Of course, it was never a person who he could underestimate.
He was overconfident because he had never failed in his life, and his ability was flawless, although his political power was a little low.
'As soon as he saw the stirrups, he said he understood their value at a glance.'
Marcus only greeted him very briefly when he saw him off returning to the position, but he had a strong impression that he could never forget.
Deep-rooted firm confidence and unshakable will. Even the innate ability to support it and the innate charisma that leads the military.
There was no denying that it was a statue of a great hero who would command the world.
He also wanted to see what kind of cavalry tactics the genius of that strategy would use the stirrup.
'Still, it was an accurate decision not to show the heavy cavalry.'
In this day and age, lance chargers can completely disrupt the balance of the battlefield.
It is impossible to predict what kind of butterfly effect would be called if he gave such a card too early to a genius of strategy like Pompeius.
He'll find out later, but he still has to hide it.
'By the time it's leaked over there, we'll have done enough improvements, so the difference won't change.'
In the rotation with the rebels, the heavy cavalry showed more destructive power than expected. However, at the same time, it revealed a number of points for improvement.
The most important thing to improve is the quality of armor.
The Lorica Hamata currently used by the Roman army was not suitable as armor for heavy cavalry.
Lorica Hamata is a chain armor that is strong against slashing impacts but very vulnerable to the stabbing.
However, most of the attacks that heavy cavalrymen with lances receive are stabbing weapons such as spears or bows.
It was fine against poorly armed rebels, but against a well-trained army, they were likely to collapse before they could get on.
I was also thinking about introducing armor used in Parthia or Lorica Segmentata used in the enactment.
However, this is also just a stopgap measure.
Although Lorica Segmentata is a type of plate armor, it is incomparable to the plate armor used in the Medieval era.
Plate armor is the strongest equipment that can maximize the cavalry's ability to destroy formations.
No matter how strong the attack power is, wouldn't it be meaningless if the arrow annihilates the enemy before it attaches itself?
Deflects arrows from enemies with plate armor and shatters defenses with a lance.
If this battle and defense are not completed, the strength of the heavy cavalry will eventually be only half.
'Let's say destrier will continue to improve its breed from now on...… As expected, the production of steel is the biggest problem.'
With the current steel technology, it is impossible to produce anything like the full-body plate armor that they used after the 15th century.
In order to make the whole body into steel, they must back up that amount of production.
And, of course, it was impossible to produce such a large amount of steel with the ancient iron-making technology.
This means that he should improve steel technology before discussing whether to make plate armor or not.
One good thing is that it is not an area that is impossible to realize with current technology.
'It was said that the explosive increase in steel production in medieval Europe was after the introduction of advanced bellows used in the East. Since then, even as the bellows technology using water power has come out, there has been another development. First of all, blast furnaces at an early level are already in use. If we put in time, manpower, and money, we should be able to reach mass production of steel.'
In a nutshell, a bellows is a tool that blows air into a furnace. By supplying oxygen to the fire, it increases the firepower and melts the iron more effectively.
Although the blast furnace is slightly different, strictly speaking, it can be seen as an early type of blast furnace.
Most smelters in Rome now used both furnaces and blast furnaces to make ingots. Of course, with current technology, ingots without by-products could not be made.
Marcus felt the need to innovate iron technology as soon as he returned to Rome.
This is not something that he can achieve in a short time. Fixed manpower and funds should be invested at all times to develop them steadily.
It is necessary to develop what can be developed and import excellent technologies from the East as much as possible.
In particular, there was nothing more he could hope for if he could somehow learn about China's blast furnace, which has been used since the Han Dynasty.
But in the end, the most basic prerequisite for all of this is money.
Without sufficient funding, most of the plans currently envisioned will be impossible to proceed with.
'It's not enough just for stirrups and horseshoes, so I should think about new business items. Well, there's a lot of ways to make money.'
Of course, this wasn't all there was to be done.
Improvement of steel technology, expansion of business, and finally, recruitment of talent.
These three things are not one-offs but something that it should always continue.
In particular, Marcus was slowly feeling the need to recruit talented people from all walks of life.
Septimus is a person who can move like his own hand, but he is technically close to his full-time secretary.
Spartacus had other things to do besides escort, and Danae was still young. Her full-fledged career will be when Marcus enters the Senate.
Now, I needed a competent person who could move like a hand and foot, even if I wasn't completely reliable like those three.
This is because Rome in the future differs from what it has been.
The system's contradictions, which Sulla had suppressed, were now almost at their limit.
It will be a furnace where all kinds of desires, ambitions that have reached their limits, and emotions are intertwined and melted.
If you are not thoroughly prepared, you will be swept away by the situation and cannot take the initiative and move.
Only when he was young did he have no choice but to adapt to the situation.
The family's wealth eventually belonged to Crassus, his father, and Marcus' power was weak.
Even when the rebellion broke out, Marcus could only help Crassus next to him.
But it won't be anymore. It shouldn't have been.
Even if the big trend of history stayed the same, he had no intention of missing the initiative in the case.
Marcus turned his gaze to Spartacus, who was sitting across from him.
Even if it was inevitable, he put a heavy burden on his subordinates that they had to carry for the rest of their life.
Now it won't happen again.
Throughout the rebellion, Marcus looked back on who he was.
He should be a leader who leads many people.
Leading a person means having the right qualifications.
Marcus raised his head.
It is a moment when a calm and intense resolution is engraved in the heart.
Outside the swaying window, the clouds drifted silently.
* * *
The couple, which was sold as slaves and separated, reunited in a faraway land.
The husband was afraid and couldn't bear to check his wife's face.
"Are you...?"
A familiar voice that he had even dreamed of.
Spartacus, who had been looking down all along, was thrilled with joy to the point of shuddering.
"You, right?"
"Cellini... is it really you...?"
The light returned to Spartacus' eyes, which had been sinking with anxiety.
He walked slowly and reached his wife's face.
He thought it might be an illusion, so he stopped several times in the middle.
Eventually, Spartacus felt the warm warmth of his fingers and looked indescribable.
His wife is here.
A person who would not regret anything even if he gave his life.
Tears welled up in Spartacus' eyes. Cellini, his wife, also poured out tears that were filling up without being able to swallow them.
"You've been safe. Really... I'm glad. I...…."
He wanted to tell her many things if he met her again. An apology for the past that he could not keep. An appreciation for the present that they can meet like this, and countless stories about the future.
There were a lot of words that filled his throat, but he couldn't make a sound because it choked him.
So he just cried.
Seeing this, she shed even more tears.
Tears flowing from the two faces were hearts that leaked out.
One could understand the many words he kept inside just by exchanging glances.
Marcus, who was watching from behind, was somehow moved.
It was his wish that it would bring some comfort to the heart of Spartacus, who it must have hurt by cutting his best friend.
"I'm glad you got a good result."
Spartacus' wife was fortunate.
She received a basic education, was cultured, and was very good at cooking.
She entered the mansion of a wealthy old couple in Neapolis as a slave.
The owners loved her cooking so much that they treated her fairly well.
There was no harassment or abuse at all.
However, efforts to find out about her husband's news have repeatedly failed.
This is because Spartacus abandoned his name in Thrace and was living as a gladiator named Spartacus.
Then Septimus, who Marcus had ordered, came in contact.
He negotiated with the old couple and bought ownership of the slaves for three times more than when they first brought Cellini.
After hearing about Cellini's situation, the old couple said they could pay only the right price, but Marcus added an additional fee.
It was in the sense of gratitude for treating Spartacus's wife well.
When Spartacus knew this, he knelt before Marcus and bowed his head.
He couldn't express his current gratitude with any words or actions, but he couldn't resist without at least saying this much.
Cellini also knelt beside him.
"Thank you very much, young master. For this grace I will give my life...… No, I'll never forget it even if I die. I swear again that I will devote my whole body and soul to devote my loyalty until this body does not move."
"I won't go that far. When you return to Rome, you are now a free citizen. It is not a relationship between master and slave, but between Patronus (patron) and Clientes (client). Of course, I will free Cellini, so go to Rome and hold the ceremony."
"I don't care about the format. My future life is now to fulfill your will. I'll cut down anything that stands in your way."
Cellini also expressed her gratitude by bowing her head until her forehead touched the ground.
"The owner who the husband serves is also my master. Even if I am freed, I will faithfully serve you."
"What do you mean...… Thank you anyway. There must be a lot of behind-the-scenes stories between the couple, so go and talk. I'm going to finish talking about the contract with Cellini's former owner."
They are two people who went a long way and met again. Marcus decided to leave his seat tactfully.
Looking at the couple who had a touching reunion, he immediately turned his eyes and looked ahead.
At the end of that gaze was Rome.
Now, everything that needs to be done before returning is done.
It will not stop for a moment from now until it reaches the peak of Rome.
This is the real beginning.
The moment of a new start was waiting for Marcus.
TN:
* = Gukbap is a Korean dish made by putting cooked rice into hot soup or boiling rice in soup.