In front of the boulevard of Tegreseta, the poplars were under the lead-gray winter clouds, and only the pale blue branches were shivering. Adena placed her hand gracefully on Calabis's shoulder, and with a light leap, she boarded the ornate cart pulled by four bulls, the same one behind her, carrying Naissa and her maid Potty.

It was Luculas and Claudius who had come to say goodbye, and after a brief exchange of pleasantries, the group to the winter camp set off.

Sandwiched between the sides of the vehicle were the soldiers of the Troika, all with happy faces and bare heads, carrying on their shoulders the trunk of a fig tree with their helmets, water bottles, and money bags, which had been cut down from the sanctuary on the outskirts of Tegreseta, where the black smoke of arson was still rising. Utiris and Hybrida, two centurions, walked side by side, with their canes in hand, followed by Appis, a military tribune in a mule cart.

Winter camp, finally able to return home, even if it is temporary.

"The tuna sent you to spy on my brother, right?"

"Forever low-level Highbrid, you don't have to think of yourself as important, I was appointed to guard the Third Wing, and it is now shouldering the important mission of escorting the royal family of Pontus, and it is not up to you to decide on the part of the problematic."

"Hey, isn't this the sword of the indigo barbarian that my brother took after fighting? How you have it. At this moment, Hybrida suddenly noticed that Utiris had a splendid Celtic sword pinned to his waist, and recalled its identity, and cried out, "If my brother remembers correctly, you have been blowing the wind on the top of Sophini's mountain that night!" ”

Just as Utarius was about to quarrel, Apis, who was behind him, raised his hand, "Gentlemen, my duty is to go to the Silesian garrison and handle some settlements. ”

"Silesia, what a tedious journey to the harbor of Sinop to get these two wives on board, and then to Bithynia. Tuna Lukulas, I know he hates brother. Heblida grumbled continuously, and then he looked back at the three mysterious messengers from the Bosphorus who were driving with Adiana, still wearing tight cloaks, riding on horses, revealing only a hand covered under the wrist armor, holding the reins, and a highly guarded posture, which made him feel extremely annoyed, as if to indicate that the journey would not be so easy, and he couldn't help adding, "This damn mission"

The group moved slowly down the straight street, farther and farther away from Tegreseta, and after seeing them leave, Luculas turned and turned his horse away, while Claudius, who was smiling, still clubbing.

After a few whistles, a small detachment of men and horses flashed out of the woodland by the side of the road, and the head of the giant man with the cape was riding a horse, carrying an equally gorgeous sword, and his face was painted with the terrible indigo dye, and he nodded to Claudius.

Claudius smiled gracefully, and then turned to the back of the convoy and the third wing, and gently made a "please" gesture to the giant man.

On the journey to Bithynia, the procession became more and more unpleasant, sometimes Utteres and Hebrida arguing, sometimes Adiana and Naissa, sometimes Adiana and Hebrida, and sometimes this was enough to make Apis feel dissatisfied and angry, and he just wanted to get to Silesia as quickly as possible, and get out of the group as soon as possible.

Tonight, the party decided to camp for the night in a moor, for there was no room for it anywhere, but Hybrida had a violent argument with Adiana, who scolded all the Roman soldiers in Greek for being barbarians, and on the way they picked up the curtain of the car with the trunk of a fig tree, and spied on their countenance, and their words were full of obscenity.

"Listen, you Greeks are nasty seeds!" "We all know that your Greek statues are all naked, and the Romans put them on one by one!" ”

Calabis next to him almost burst out laughing.

Zuihou, an enraged Adiana announces that her chariot is to keep her distance from the Roman camp at night.

"Please forgive my niece's rudeness, she has always been such a naughty child." Naissa explained softly to Apis and Utyrus, and assured her that she would never leave the team for half a step and would not cause any trouble to anyone.

"Let's go, Calabis."

"Allow me to trespass, for the sake of safety, I think it's wiser to stay with the Triple Wing." Calabis said.

But Adiana ignored him, and Calabis had no choice but to choose another campsite, two furlongs from the camp of the Triple Wing, a deep mountain forest with clear spring water.

When the fire was raised, the three messengers followed, still motionless, guarding Adina's chariot, and after arguing with Hybrida, Adiana locked herself in the chariot and refused Calabis's request for her dinner.

The yellowish moon in mid-sky moved out of the clouds, casting a hazy shadow on the earth, and the moon's figure was much "plump" compared to the decisive battle of Tergreseta, and it seemed that it was about to be the middle of the moon again. Calabis thought of something unreaching, and took the clay pot to a stream to draw water.

The water in the stream, very clear and stained with some frost, clearly reflected in the moonlight, was silvery clearly, and all around was the sound of a fan moving the branches. Just as the clay pot was lowered, the waves were lifted, and the water was slowly converging, Calabis saw that from the gradually gathering reflection in the water, the leader of the Marcha messenger, of medium height, was standing behind him, covered by a cloak, hidden in the night, revealing only a hideous silver visor, staring at himself.

Calabis was so nervous that he almost fell into the water, but the leader of the messenger then pressed his wrist on his shoulder, and he tried to struggle, but the messenger was so strong that his shoulder seemed to be clamped by iron tongs, and he could not move at all.

At this time, Calabis felt that the leader of the messengers seemed to care less about him, but more about the situation of the stream, and Zuihou Calabis also saw that the water of the stream was shaking! Although the frequency is slight, it does vibrate.

Suddenly, a sound came from the air, and the leader threw Calabis to the ground, stomped his foot on his head, and with a flash of his cloak, drew a small "Tifer-like" shield (an ancient Mycenaean shield hollowed out in a figure eight) from his back, and blocked the sound—an arrow from the darkness of the jungle!