Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 157 - 61 Publicity

Chapter 157: Chapter 61 Publicity

"Sending a preserved head, of course, is not a game term, but actually a head pickled in lime."

"The implicit message was self-evident:"

"If you do not surrender, once we conquer Olin City, we will slaughter the city."

"These heads are your fate."

"Although the Olin City officials had imposed media control, various rumors still spread, casting a somber and indignant mood over all the citizens."

"After all, Thessalonica was not far from Olin City, and many citizens had relatives and friends there who were now permanently separated from them under the occupation of the Crusaders."

"A worse piece of news accompanied these heads."

"Bernifax, King of Thessalonica, led the remaining ten thousand troops to a site near Olympia Town, where he joined the vanguard at the edge of the ruins."

"Hence, the number of Crusaders involved in the siege increased massively, and military acts like today’s infiltration and sabotage behind enemy lines became too risky to continue."

"Upon reaching the top-floor arena, which was now bordered with wooden boards for bonfires, bodies wrapped in red cloaks lay atop, consumed by the devouring flames."

"Among these bodies were Spartan Warriors and ordinary mercenaries."

"Rudashus, leading the Spartan Warriors, stood solemnly beneath the fire."

"Upon seeing the members of The Azure Longsword arrive, Rudashus turned around, his gaze fixed on Aske:"

"You fought beautifully this time," his voice was hoarse and seemed inflicted by the war.

"As did you," Aske responded politely.

"No, the Spartan Warriors are not as good as you," Rudashus said with a bitter smile. "At least, I could not manage to take nine people out and bring them all back completely."

"Aske offered a smile in return, but said nothing."

"Rudashus picked up a Longsword lying next to the fire, walked over to Eleanor, and handed it to her."

"What is this?" Eleanor asked, puzzled.

"Turbulence’s Longsword," Rudashus replied with a smile, Eleanor noticed a fresh sword scar on his lips that seemed it had just stopped bleeding, "Do you remember the Spartan Warrior at the Olympia Town station who competed against you?"

"That’s him," Eleanor remembered instantly. "You mean..."

"Since his defeat by you last time, he had been thinking about washing away the shame," Rudashus said earnestly. "In today’s battle, to cover the mercenaries’ retreat, he fought to death against three Power Armor Knights and was shot several times."

"This is his family heirloom Longsword, said to be blended with a small amount of Purgatory Blood Pattern Steel, sharper than any sword in the world."

"Following his last wish, I am now handing it over to you. As someone who once defeated Turbulence, please take his Longsword and will, and seek greater glory on the battlefield."

"This..." Eleanor quickly gestured, "I can’t accept."

However, Rudashus promptly stuffed the Longsword into Eleanor’s hands and hastily left with his men.

"Aske..." Eleanor hesitated.

"If someone insists on giving it to you, just keep it," Aske said. "By the way, have you considered learning swordsmanship?"

"Swordsmanship?" Eleanor fell silent. "Actually, I’ve learned a bit of swordsmanship before."

"Let’s not talk about the past. If you learn swordsmanship from me, you must start from scratch," Aske said. "And for the upcoming defense of the city, it looks like we won’t have much to do for a while."

"After absorbing a lot of Extraordinary Power on the battlefield, everyone must be eager to digest them quickly, right?" Aske clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Guys, get ready for some brand new intensive training!"

"Eh!" The girls immediately screamed in dismay. Why did they have to get beaten up just after leaving the battlefield?

——————

Gang-up training.

Simply put, it was one against four, training reaction capabilities and tactical awareness under extreme circumstances of being surrounded.

The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps had five Physical Department close-combat output members: Aske, Mia, Peggy, Eleanor, and Sigrdrifa. Hence, they took turns being the trainee surrounded by four sparring partners.

Thus, the training had two modes.

Mode one: Aske leading the other three in a fierce beat-down of the trainee.

Mode two: Aske alone thrashing the four poor sparring partners.

Honestly, everyone preferred the first mode since, if they were sparring, Aske would intentionally control his power, keeping his attacks on the same level as the other three girls.

In the second mode, though, Aske would turn into the Great Demon King and mercilessly beat the four girls.

Even though such training indeed helped with the conversion of Extraordinary Power, constantly being beaten was truly painful, especially when your opponent had no sense of "hold back" and considered it normal to aim blows at your face.

Therefore, under the collective protest of the girls, Aske was sent away with "You’re already strong; you don’t need more training" as the reason.

Bored, Aske left Fire Island and saw Hood watching TV as soon as he reached the military camp in the Real Plane.

"Here." Seeing Aske emerge from the room, Hood pointed at the screen and said, "The Azure Longsword, you guys are on TV."

On the TV screen, the show host was energetically introducing their war spoils: a plethora of mortars and mortar shells.

In the host’s exaggerated words, these shells were enough to take down more than half of the Crusaders.

Of course, that was boasting. If it were true, why wouldn’t the military just use them at once instead of displaying them here?

Addressing the audience’s doubts, the host cleverly teased them before shifting the topic to the heroes who seized these spoils—the Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps.

"Hey, tell me," Hood turned to Aske, curious, "why are you here? Shouldn’t you be the one appearing on TV?"

"There’s no need," Aske replied, "I run a mercenary corps, not a boy band. Why should I be on TV?"

"Fair point." Hood nodded thoughtfully. "After all, as a man aiming to become the Harem King, how could you tolerate having your women show up on TV, fantasized and groveled at by losers?"

"That’s too much," Aske warned, "keep taunting your boss, and I might just dock your pay."

"Ah." Hood shook his head sadly, "The joys of the rich, us poor guys can’t even imagine."

The TV host started to wildly praise the Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps as heroes who sought "not wealth or fame, but glory," explaining why these folks didn’t appear on TV.

Honestly, the hero-crazed people of Sirius really fell for this, and soon enough, the host’s phone was overwhelmed with calls, and the scrolling news ticker sped by as numerous citizens called in to inquire.

A mercenary corps like this—how could one possibly get autographs and photos with them? Are they still accepting sign-ups now?

"Heh, look, you guys really are famous now," Hood chuckled, "Who knows, maybe you’ll have people blockading your door soon."

"Yeah, if some crazy fans really do show up, you handle them as the face of the Azure Longsword," Aske mused.

"Wait, why is it me representing you guys?" Hood cried out discontentedly, "I’m not your official member; I’m just a temp!"

"Eh, isn’t that what temps are for, handling miscellaneous tasks like these?" Aske asked, puzzled.