"Maxim, winter is coming, and I will continue to lead the legions deep into the north to pursue the barbarian rebels. On my departure from Gaul, I promised Tertilla that in three months I would end the rebellion here and return to Gaul. Now, more than two months have passed, and there has been little progress in the fighting. You stay here and turn this bazaar into a fortress to stock up on military supplies and grain. In the future, if the war drags on, I may need your supplies. ”

In northern Britain, it's only late autumn, but the temperature has dropped to unbearable levels. A wild place, a desolate place. At this moment, Apis deeply realized why the northern barbarians in history kept moving south and invading civilized countries, because the region where they were located was too cold and food was scarce. The south has warm sunshine and fertile land, and the land of Egypt can even grow three crops of grain a year. This is naturally a powerful attraction for the northern barbarians who are still drinking blood.

It's just that in this era, the northern barbarians encountered the Roman Empire, which was becoming stronger, so it blocked the pace of the Germanic people and many northern barbarians from invading the south.

Now, Apis was to lead his legions to conquer the Celts in northern Britain, which would later be Scotland. As with his previous plan, Apis left his most powerful man, Maxim, in the town of Ulenica. It's just that no one knows that this will be the beginning of the legion's terrible nightmare.

……

Two weeks later, the Celts of North Britain joined the tribal alliance of Torles, and Appis's massacre of the Druids on Mora not only did not cause devastating casualties to the tribes, but instead inspired the Britons to revolt against Rome. Because they have no way out. The large number of tribes came as a surprise to Torles himself, who had planned to gather the rest of the tribes and fight the Romans to the end, but now it seemed that the situation was very unfavorable for the Romans on the island, but very favorable for the tribal alliance.

Torles then ordered the newly joined tribes to raid and harass the Roman legions as they carried grain to the front. As soon as the 10th and 12th Legions led by Apis left Yulenika, they encountered the dilemma of not being able to reach the front line smoothly. And relying on baggage alone, in fact, it will not last long, if there is no war, if there is no plunder.

"That's the price you paid for slaughtering the druids."

During the night, the camp of the legion was built, and Apis and Denise sat in the tent, and Denis had become Apis's personal servant. Many times, Denise, who was born with a calf, also became emboldened and began to express his many grievances to Appis. Of course, Appis also let the girl express that it was her prerogative......

"You believe in the so-called gods?"

Apis sat down, untied his armor and sword, and looked at Denice and said calmly.

"Why not? He is our protector, just like your Jupiter and Mars, they are real! ”

Denise packed up and pursed his lips, expressing his serious protest and dissatisfaction with Appis's massacre of the druids. In fact, Apis also knew that most of the people in North Britain believed in this, and the tribe where Denise lived was close to south-central Britain, and was influenced by both Roman culture and Celtic culture, although the gods of the Romans had slowly been introduced to the tribe, but many tribesmen still believed in their primitive gods. Denise was no exception, believing that the druids could communicate with the gods and at the same time, had some knowledge of the Roman gods. What Apis had to do was to transfer her thoughts to the faith of the Romans, in other words, to proselytize.

"Well, then, let's steer clear of this topic, because none of us have ever seen a real god. I ask you now, have you prayed to your gods? Some good wishes, such as praying for a happy family, a good harvest of grain, etc. ”

Sitting across from Denise, Apis said lightly.

"I prayed."

"Did it come to fruition?"

"Most of them have been realized, and a few have not."

That's right, the gods are just a vagaries of will, and if you believe in them, they exist, and if you don't, they're just an imaginary image of you. You say that the druids can communicate with the gods, but you haven't seen the gods come down and really communicate with them, all of which is just said by themselves. ”

"What do you want to say?"

Denise soon wavered a little in his confidence under the sophistry of Appis's "tongue-in-cheek".

"What I want to tell you is that the druid's ability to communicate with your gods may be just a pretense, and he needs an illusory and mysterious vision to rule over your tribe and your people. No druid would tell outsiders about his practice, about anyone who had nothing to do with him. Why? Because he has to hold this resource firmly, it's a spiritual resource, you don't understand, you don't understand, you don't understand it, so you think it's mysterious, and that's what the druids want. In fact, maybe it's all a lie, or maybe the druids can see the gods and talk to the gods, and it's just a vision of their own imagination. Because your prayers don't work every time, do they? ”

During the night, the cold wind outside the tent was blowing, and inside the tent, Apis and Denise had a long talk. Of course, as a "preacher", most of the time, it is Apis who speaks and Denise listens. Such a picture suddenly reminded Apis of a distant time, when he came to Claudia's house as a teacher in that warm Gallic villa. It's a bit similar to now.

"You mean the druids deliberately hide their abilities, and that those rituals are just performances for them?"

Denise's eyes widened and she asked.

"Something like that. But one more thing, the druids did master some medical skills that you don't know, they lived in the natural environment for a long time, and they mastered some natural herbs that could cure diseases. In the same way, they will not tell you about these skills, but will only pass them on to their own children or those close to them. This is the monopoly of resources. ”

Apis coined the term resource monopoly, but it vividly explains why the tribal druids are so mysterious.

At this time, Denise's faith was indeed a little shaken, after all, she was still only a fifteen-year-old child.