Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 356 - 154: Impersonating

Chapter 356: Chapter 154: Impersonating

The so-called "Joss Paper" in this world, of course, isn’t printed with the visage of King Yanluo and doesn’t feature denominations exceeding 999999 on giant paper currency.

Instead, it is a coin held in the mouth.

Legend has it that Charon, the ferryman of the River Styx, is solely responsible for transporting the deceased to the far shores of the river. However, this fellow demands a fare for the passage.

If the fare is paid, one can reach the bottom of the Subconscious Ocean on the other side of the Netherworld, thereby living forever deep within one’s own memories.

If the fare is not provided, then he will refuse to carry the passenger.

Those who are refused passage can only remain for a prolonged period in the gap between the Main Plane and the Netherworld, gradually losing their memories from life, eventually turning into aimless Spiritual Bodies wandering about like the walking dead, descending into an endless, chronic state of withering.

Or they might be summoned by a Spiritual Body ability user to be used as tools.

So, from the Second Epoch to the Fourth Epoch, both Solomon people and Ancient Sirius people would place a coin in the mouth of the deceased before burial, as a means to pay Charon’s ferry fee.

However, such customs have ceased after the Fifth Epoch, thanks to the Church Court’s efforts in actively promoting the Solomon Sect worldwide, enlightening everyone that the so-called "ferryman of the River Styx" is a fabrication, a heretical invention aimed at bringing about superstition, to frighten you.

Don’t fear not having money to bribe the ferryman after death. Treasuring life while living is what really matters, understand? Avoid courting death, and you won’t die.

Aske, standing amidst a field of corpses, collected his thoughts for a moment before using his sword’s tip to lift the money bag from the waist of one of the Guards.

It felt heavy—these guys seemed to have made quite a profit from their recent extortion.

Near the bodies were the fellow trembling travelers, huddled against the carriage, hand in hand, watching Aske with a chilling fear—as he, who had suddenly erupted into violence, slaughtering the Guards like cutting through melons and vegetables, had nearly made them kneel and scream for mercy.

"Eh?" It was then that Aske noticed the travelers sharing his carriage hadn’t fled the scene. "Why aren’t you running?"

The travelers didn’t respond, just stared ashen-faced at the handgun in his chest holster.

Run? Like a rabbit scampering away a dozen meters, only to be instantly shot down by you?

"That businessman over there." Aske motioned to someone among the travelers, the chubby merchant who had mentioned he was heading to Constance, and called out to him with a smile, "Come here for a second."

"G-g-great sir..." The fat merchant stammered, "I don’t know anything. I didn’t see anything. I’ve never met you..."

Aske was taken aback for a moment, then realized that the other party feared his sensitive identity was now exposed and he was caught in the Guards’ interrogation, suggesting that a killing to silence witnesses was imminent.

Thus, without offering any explanation, he just lifted the money bag and tossed it into the merchant’s arms:

"Take the coins out and put one in the mouth of each of these bodies, as if paying the River Styx ferry fare."

The merchant was momentarily taken aback.

He was aware of this Ancient Sirius custom and thought to himself that this nobleman was quite sentimental... Does this mean that he was not the kind of vicious person who heartlessly slaughters the innocent?

"Yes! Yes!" he hurriedly responded, rapidly counting out coins from the money bag and stuffing them into the mouths of each corpse.

"What are you all still doing standing there?" Aske asked in surprise when he saw the remaining travelers still frozen in place.

"We’re leaving now, right now," the people quickly said, shoving each other to leave.

The chubby merchant had also finished his task. With half of the coins still remaining in the bag, he reverently handed it back.

"No need, I’ll reward it to you," Aske waved his hand dismissively.

"Much appreciated, my lord!" The chubby merchant was overjoyed, for the Lorraine Gold Coins were of high gold content, and considerably valuable.

Just as he was about to hastily flee the scene, something occurred to the chubby merchant, and he mustered up the courage to turn back and say,

"My lord, you should escape quickly! The people of Count Furttenberg will soon realize something’s amiss, and if they find you around here, your suspected collusion with the Falcon Family will be confirmed!"

"Ha ha, it doesn’t matter," Aske appeared unconcerned.

Under the chubby merchant’s anxious gaze, which seemed to urge further persuasion, Aske chuckled and said,

"That’s because I really am in collusion with the Falcon Family."

The chubby merchant: ...

After all these unfortunate individuals involved had scattered, Aske found a secluded corner and summoned Nora from Fire Island.

"Eh, are you looking for me?" Nora seemed a bit surprised, "I thought you would summon Ellie."

"Wouldn’t summoning her expose our identities?" Aske pointed out.

"That’s true," Nora had to admit that, given Ellie’s background as a Great Noble, perhaps most well-known nobles in the Empire would recognize her.

"However, there are also many nobles in Swabia doing business with the Church Court," Nora revealed with a somewhat troubled expression, "I might be recognized as well..."

"That would be perfect," Aske immediately said, "I need to make use of your identity, after all."

Nora: ???

My identity?

"The well-known arms dealer conglomerate’s second daughter of the Lysine financial dynasty," Aske explained, "Visiting the market environment of the Swabian Duchy, which has a booming demand during the outbreak of the civil war in the Holy Solomon Empire, isn’t that a perfectly normal affair?"

"You mean, to use the cover of selling arms to secretly probe the Sorren Family’s stance?" Nora hesitated slightly.

"Exactly," Aske confirmed, "I remember the Church Court has similar export regulation laws. We could use that as a reason to demand an explanation from the Schsolon Family regarding whether they plan to pledge allegiance to the Emperor or continue their loyalty to the Griffin Family."

"That regulation is just a superficial restriction," Nora shook her head with a wry smile, "In reality, nobody really pays much attention to it."

By ’everyone’, of course, she meant the Thirteen Families of Solomon.

Aske was well aware of this and waved his hand, saying, "Of course, a front is just a front. As long as you present a business-as-usual attitude, do you think they would dare to bring the unspoken rules up into the open?"

Seeing Nora still hesitant, Aske pulled out an assurance:

"Besides, if the other party is indeed extremely cooperative, you could always contact your sister then. Whether or not the deal goes through is ultimately up to your sister."

"If you do proceed with the deal, then you would have discovered a business opportunity for your sister; if not, it’s no loss to your family. To the Sorren Family, it wouldn’t be as if we were deceiving them since, in their eyes, you at least appeared to want to make the deal happen."

These words struck right at Nora’s concern. She did not mind leveraging her family’s influence but was worried that misusing her family’s name in front of the Sorren Family would cause unnecessary trouble for them.

However, Aske’s proposal neatly resolved this worry, so Nora finally nodded her head... after reading his heart and confirming that the Squad Leader had not used the artful flattery of a man to deceive her naive and pure self, she agreed:

"Alright then."