"I merely said what I had kept buried in my heart for a long time. I'm sorry."
Novia did not withdraw his hand. Instead, he continued to wear a gentle smile.
"But as the Strongest Dragon, it is only natural that you take such pride in yourself. I have always believed that, so this cannot be used to bind you."
Then—
A contract appeared in the silver-haired boy's hand, seemingly taken from nowhere.
The Dragon of Albion naturally knew what it was. It was an essential item when human mages wished to make an agreement or cooperate with their own kind or other creatures. To prevent either party from violating the terms, it was one of the most widely used Mystic Codes.
However, that was only for the weak. For the strongest, it was an entirely unnecessary procedure.
"My friend took me into consideration and incorporated this into your body during the forging process. Please forgive Shiyali for doing so."
Novia winked at Shiyali beside him.
There had never been such a step in the forging process, had there? More importantly, who signed a contract with a weapon while forging it?
Though she grumbled internally, the purple-haired girl still nodded in a fluster.
"Ah... y-yes, yes. Sorry, please forgive me..."
"In my eyes, you are as noble as the countless stars illuminating the world, a radiance unlike any other." Novia tore the "contract" in his hand to pieces. "To me, you are the most precious starlight. Your permission holds immense meaning for me, and losing you would be an absolute tragedy. Dragon of Albion, you are my only light."
...Did this human truly worship me so much?
The Dragon of Albion gazed at Novia's gentle smile and awkwardly accepted his gaze, because this was clearly a heartfelt reaction. It could not be faked.
"You..."
It wanted to say something, but upon looking into his eyes, its answer came late once more.
To the Dragon of Albion, contracts could never restrain it. It was the strongest; having one or not made no difference. Yet this human's meaningless actions and spoken words made it feel, for the first time, a surging excitement rising endlessly from deep within its chest.
Excitement and joy did not quite fit.
How should it describe this intense, vivid feeling in its heart?
Surprise? No.
Moved? No.
Happiness? Still no.
Yet it truly could not refuse this weak human, and an indescribable embarrassment arose within it.
"May I ask once more, Dragon of Albion? Please allow me, a weak person, to be confused with you, think with you, worry with you, and struggle with you."
He was merely a weak human, merely an immature mage far inferior to the gods, yet he dreamed of peering into the Strongest Dragon. Not only had he failed to realize how childish he was, he had only grown more audacious.
But, but, but, no matter how weak it considered him—
This human's words, this human's gaze.
The Dragon of Albion took every bit of them into its heart.
Although they truly sounded no different from nonsense, it also felt that his feelings had indeed reached the depths of its heart.
"Hmph, call yourself lucky. I am the strongest!"
"You are right. You are unquestionably the strongest."
The "spear's" shaft and Novia's hand clasped firmly together.
As he held it, his hand stroked the entire body of the "spear." At the same time, the silver-haired boy said with a smile:
"Then, the contract is sealed."
It was gentle and warm. He had held it from the very beginning, yet it felt as though he had only truly grasped it now.
Perhaps because it was a weapon and naturally cold, it nevertheless felt that its soul shared that sensation.
However, the Dragon of Albion arrogantly explained once more:
"Let me make this clear so you do not misunderstand. I did this through my own thoughts and my own will, not because you, a weak human, casually persuaded me. To me, you are merely a weakling who could be found anywhere. There are countless people who could replace you."
In its eyes, that should have been the simplest and clearest answer. A weak human who had gained the strongest would surely be overwhelmed with gratitude. Yet for an instant, the Dragon of Albion saw sorrow rise onto this human's face.
"...Yes. You are right."
"Hmph. Just do not get too full of yourself."
Though seeing this weak human wear such an expression gave it an indescribable feeling, still—
It was only natural that weak humans absolutely obeyed the strongest. Such was the law.
The Strongest Dragon thought so arrogantly.
I'll Bear the Infamy
In a garden somewhere within the Roman imperial palace.
"Little Novia, you... you actually drained Lake Fucinus in only three days... You did wonderfully..."
The old emperor Claudius spoke in delighted surprise to Novia, who was reporting the situation before him.
"Please do not praise me so highly, Your Majesty. This is what I ought to do for the Empire."
The silver-haired boy's gentle voice created an atmosphere brimming with warmth and affection, and this was precisely the sort of thing he excelled at.
Recently, Claudius had begun planning a public works project: draining Lake Fucinus in the Apennines and channeling its water into Rome through aqueducts. He had consulted the Court Mage, who said it would take at least a year to complete.
At that point, Novia had volunteered to solve the project himself.
The result exceeded everyone's expectations. No one had thought Novia would spend merely two days fully constructing a three-mile drainage channel.
Terrifying magical skill. That was the shared assessment of the mages within the Roman Empire.
For Claudius, being able to swiftly complete such a beneficial public facility naturally delighted him. Novia would naturally not shirk matters that benefited the people, and he had only resolved it so quickly with his new weapon—the "spear." Still, he had spent quite a bit of effort persuading the Dragon of Albion, since Novia knew it actually loved extending a helping hand to the weak.
"Then, Your Majesty, please allow me to take my leave first. I will not disturb your rest."
"No matter, no matter. Little Novia, you finished so quickly. You should be the one going to rest."
In truth, Novia entered the imperial palace every day not only to offer the old emperor advice, but also to see whether any new factors beyond his immediate control had appeared. Before his plan was put into action, the old emperor remaining safe and sound was also an important condition for stability.
For example, Novia carefully inspected the food to prevent Agrippina, now empress, from suddenly going mad and ordering someone to poison it—
"Hey!"
The moment he rounded the corner, Novia heard a cheerful, lively cry from a young girl, who lunged at his abdomen.
"Teacher, I'm going to give a speech at the Senate today. Would you like to come with me?"
The blonde girl pressed her forehead against Novia's abdomen, then looked up at him.
"You are giving another speech? Of course I can go." Novia lowered his head, their eyes meeting as his azure pupils looked into Nero's. "But you are no longer a child, so it would be best for you to face it on your own."
"But Teacher, you said the same thing last time. No, you say it every time..." Nero puffed out her cheeks and pouted in displeasure, but soon returned to her originally bright and lively self. "Well, umu, never mind. Teacher can come another time when you are free. It is getting late and it is about to begin, so I will be going first, Teacher."
The blonde girl immediately ran toward the Senate after saying that. Soon, only her back remained in Novia's sight. Once she had run far enough to make sure she had disappeared from her teacher's view, Nero finally stopped.
Only upon closer inspection could one see that the brightness in the blonde girl's eyes had, at some point, become veiled by a trace of gloomy darkness.
"Tch... Forget it. Slowly does it."
Afterward, Nero arrived at the Senate and pushed open its doors.
"Thank you all for waiting. I am Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus. Today's speech is about..."
Her performance was exactly as everyone remembered: cheerful and lively, and without question... a just person.
After obtaining the weapon made from Albion's head, Novia could finally officially begin the great purge of Judaism loyalists in Jerusalem, Judea Province that he had envisioned.
In the original history, the First Jewish War began in AD 66. Novia naturally could not wait around for that long, so he could only begin planning more than a decade in advance.
But this was not particularly difficult. After all, ancient Rome had always imposed heavy taxes and levies upon Judea Province. Moreover, the previous emperor Caligula had demanded that the Jews replace their God with his statue. An armed rebellion had nearly broken out at the time, only failing because Caligula himself was assassinated.
Furthermore, Judaism was currently in a period of intense national and social conflict. Faced with foreign rule and the impact of foreign culture, Judaism had split into several factions. The most important were the Sadducees, who emphasized adherence to the laws of the "Old Testament," and the Pharisees, who supported reforms adapted to local circumstances. The religious conflict between the two factions was fundamentally a struggle for leadership over the entire people.
The smaller Zealot faction supported the Pharisees' religious views, but opposed their submission to Rome. The Zealots were radicals who demanded armed resistance against Roman rule.
Even more radical members of the Zealots regarded Jews who cooperated with Romans as enemies. They hid daggers beneath their clothes and specialized in assassinating Roman officials, earning them the name Sicarii.
Therefore, as long as Novia gave the Sicarii a slight push and provoked increasingly intense actions from them, he would have a perfectly justified reason for a purge. In truth, he had begun pushing this matter a year ago...
In any case, as far as Novia was concerned, every Jew in Jerusalem had to be killed without exception as a sacrifice to Jesus Christ, the Savior who had supposedly died in AD 33—a story he had publicized extensively. Every Jew in Judea Province had to be driven out as well. And if they did not acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Messiah before being driven out, then there was no need for them to leave. They could simply lie down and atone for their sins.
Most of these people were radicals, after all, who considered themselves superior to others. During the Kitos War in AD 115, after these Jews launched the second war, narrowly defeated the local Roman garrison, and occupied cities, they immediately began massacring innocent civilians of other ethnicities.
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire quoted the Roman-era historian Dio Cassius:
"They even ate the flesh of their victims, tore out their sinews, smeared themselves with their blood, and wore garments made from their skins; many were sawn in two from head to foot. Others were thrown to beasts or forced to fight one another like gladiators. A total of 220,000 were killed."
Novia did not deny that perhaps some Jews were genuinely good people, or that some of those killed may once have humiliated them. Yet in his view, the doctrines of Judaism were still somewhat too radical. It would be better to end them completely here, with him.
Of course, Novia also knew clearly that these Jews truly yielded to softness rather than force, especially where their religious bottom line was concerned. Asking them to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah was undoubtedly like cutting off their very lives. When the time came, Judea Province would likely be drenched in blood in the most literal sense.
However, Novia also knew perfectly well that this would undoubtedly saddle him with infamy. But so what? Let the Jews suffer; he would bear the infamy.
Besides, he only needed to see it through. After all, two thousand years later, he had never seen anyone from a certain Khanate step forward to seek sympathy...
Another version of Nero.jpg
How Much Weight Does Your Messiah Carry?
Doro Bar Kochba was the leader of the Zealots in the Jewish region, naturally a fanatical Jew himself. He had secretly spread the message far and wide: "Whenever we encounter those so-called Christians, demand that they deny Jesus is the Messiah. If they refuse, punish them severely first, then torture them to death."
With such a person as their leader, it was hardly surprising that the Sicarii—who specialized in assassinating Romans and their supporters before escaping into crowds—would become the earliest assassination organization in world history.
Although the Zealots appeared small in number, their long-standing advocacy of armed resistance against the Roman Empire had won them many secret supporters. With that support, Simeon had continuously constructed underground complexes in the hills of Judea, hiding weapons and waiting for an opportunity to launch a large-scale rebellion.
Previously, when the Sadducees and Pharisees had jointly agreed to make every effort to absorb the gradually growing Christianity within the Roman Empire, Doro had been the strongest opponent. Then, after the people sent out by the two factions had been humiliated so thoroughly by the other side and dared do nothing in response, the two factions lost all face.
At that time, the Sicarii led by Simeon had voluntarily gone to the nearest places to seize and kill Christians, thereby winning massive support... Though in truth, Doro was merely putting on a show. Those he had produced were only people he personally considered "Christians." There were so many poor people anyway; in his eyes, this was a necessary sacrifice for Jerusalem's salvation.
Not to mention that Judea Province had been firmly controlled by Judaism for so many years, and that more than a decade ago they had deliberately "executed" Jesus Christ to suppress the earliest Christianity. Although Christianity had risen within the Empire in recent years, the surviving apostles possessed formidable magical abilities. Naturally, he would not send members of his faction out to die for nothing.
Furthermore, in his eyes, every place beyond Judea Province was a land of sin, and all those people were inferior beings beneath them.
Although the Romans had oppressed them for decades, Simeon also knew that his plan required the right moment. The level of radicalism in Judea Province was uneven. Oppression was most severe in places like Jerusalem and Alexandria, so the Jews there were more radical. The dispersed Jews in other regions, however, were much more moderate, since the oppression had not fallen upon their own heads.
Thus, Doro had always waited for an opportunity—an opportunity that could stir the discontent of all Jews together—
And today, he had finally found it.
The Roman governor had come to Jerusalem at the invitation of the Sadducees and Pharisees to discuss the long-standing conflict between the local Jews and Greeks...
Idiots! What Greeks? They are clearly a bunch of lawless creatures! Do they deserve to live on the same land as us?
They are the ones who have defiled our sacred land!
In a few days, will that damned Roman governor not attempt to forcibly levy the Temple's gold? And will those two traitors not intend to hand it over directly?
What we need to do is kill them!
Doro had said this to his Sicarii subordinates days ago. He had never worried about intelligence leaking, because joining the Sicarii required everyone to cut off one finger, thereby showing their hatred for the enemy.
It was already five o'clock. The final afterglow of the setting sun illuminated all of Jerusalem, the Holy City. This sacred land, which had stood here since the Age of Gods, was enveloped in layers of bounded fields. A holy domain supported by immense magical power, its invisible protection could deceive even the forces of nature, nearly resembling the world where fairies were said to dwell.
It had remained so for thousands of years, and this prosperity would continue forever. The Jews, who called themselves the chosen people, firmly believed this.
Yet that confidence had lasted only until 63 BC, when they were conquered by Rome.
But Doro was incomparably confident, because from today onward, he would wipe away that humiliation forever.
"Oh? And this is?"
"Governor, this is Lord Doro. He was also elected by all of us, and is prepared to discuss together—"
The welcoming group stopped at the entrance. Doro rushed forward alone at incredible speed and severed the still-smiling Roman governor's head with a single slash of his short sword.
"Doro, you, what are you..."
"Madman! What are you doing?!"
"Do not get this wrong, you two lackeys of the Romans!"
Hatred burned within his eyes as Doro raised the severed head of the Roman governor with one hand.
Before you continue