(Because it's summer vacation, it will be released at 2:00 p.m. from this chapter, with a small notice)

The quiet and peaceful hall, with the sunlight streaming through the somewhat narrow windows, looks quiet and sacred, and the neat red carpet is spread in the center, from the main door to the innermost wall. On the marble walls, a flaming flag is hung, a golden laurel wreath shines in the middle, and there is a line in the middle - "SPQR"

Meaning, the Senate and the Roman people.

It is a flag that can represent Rome, but also a flag that represents Roman traditions.

Theodore stood in front of this banner, dressed in full armor, purple cloak up to his ankles, enveloping his whole person, with a long sword in his hand, his eyes level, like a sculpture, only the slight tremor at the corners of his mouth could indicate his mood at the moment.

On both sides of the long carpet, there were two rows of Imperial Guard knights, straightened, their left hand naturally drooping, and their right hand holding the long sword flat in front of their chest, the smooth body of the sword obscured their vision, but it could not be ignored that these brave knights could stand in front of Theodore at any time, wielding the sharp blade in their hands to cut the enemy to pieces.

Valence, the chief knight of the Imperial Guard, stood at the foot of the steps in the lower left corner of Theodore, clutching the hilt of his sword at his waist, his body relaxed, only his eyes looked gloomy, as if telling others: I'm not happy, don't mess with me.

He had a reason.

If you want to join the Imperial Guard, it's not enough to have superb martial arts and experience, or that's not the point. The real focus can only be expressed and described in three words, and that is: loyalty, loyalty, or loyalty!

But it is very difficult to ensure loyalty, after all, there is an old saying: it is difficult to draw a dragon and a tiger, and you don't know your heart. Valence probably hadn't heard of it, but he certainly knew it. How to ensure the loyalty of the other party and carefully select fresh blood has become his biggest problem.

In Valens's view, at least a knight of the Imperial Guard should ensure three things: first, he should come from an orthodox family, preferably a military family, so as to ensure that the other party has sufficient skills and experience, and has a close relationship with Rome.

Second, they have relatives and children, and there is no record of abusing family members or breaking promises. Like many Romans, he also believed that only those who care about them can have courage, and those who know how to love their families will have loyalty—a scumbag who is not even loyal to his family, who can even abandon his friends, cannot be loyal to his master.

Third, a pure-blood Roman, because Valence was a racist.

Such a person was actually very rare among the Romans. The Romans were not averse to outsiders, and were even very welcoming and receptive to new things, in fact the word "Roman" itself has many interpretations, but it does not include the meaning of race.

If you were to ask a Roman what a Roman was, you would get three answers: "Those who live in the city of Rome, those who live within the borders of the Roman Empire, those who live like Romans." ”

In a social environment that is not harsh, a Roman is judged mostly by the other party's living habits, generally speaking, as long as the difference is not too big, very civilized and cultured, and the other party is willing to regard himself as a Roman, then everyone will see this person in this way.

Of course, Valence still went his own way, and the knights of the Imperial Guard descended from him, all of whom had black hair and black eyes, and their height did not exceed 175 cm.

He was convinced that only the purest Romans had the privilege of protecting Caesar!

So he hated this guy, this knight named Elendil Orsser, and had nothing to do with anything else, just because Caesar approved him to join the Imperial Guard, which made Valence sullen all day, although he had been keeping his face tight.

Elendil was wearing eagle armor and a purple horsehair helmet, with a purple cloak slightly shorter than Theodor behind her back, and her red eyes became very conspicuous at this time. He strode up the red carpet, calmly passed through the knights' "sword forest", knelt on one knee in front of the steps, and held his helmet in his arms.

"Today, we welcome a new knight to join us on a mission to defend Caesar, and many of you here know him, including me. Valence whispered, "His name is Elendil Orsser, and he swears allegiance to our Caesar, Lord Theodore Julian. ”

"Elendil, I ask you, if you are willing to be loyal to Caesar of all the Romans, and to give your life for him, and never betray him anytime and anywhere!"

"I do!"

"Are you willing to serve Mars, the god of war, as your faith, and swear by your faith to take on the mission of defending Rome and the Julian family from now on?"

"I do!"

"With the authority given to me by Caesar of all the Romans, I grant you the status of knight of the Imperial Guard, a sword, a shield, and a duty of defense and protection!"

Standing up slowly, Elendil gently took the sword and shield from the ugly face of Valens, and raised the sword flat, bowing his head slightly, as if in prayer.

"May Julian live forever!"

"May Julian be forever and ever——————!!!!"

————————————————————————————————————

In the study, Theodore sat on a chair, tepidly looking at Elendil with his head bowed, and flipping through a "masterpiece" of philosophy or something that he had casually taken from the shelf.

"What do you want?" Theodore looked at the "Knight of the Imperial Guard" in front of him with a somewhat grim expression: "Weishenme has to join the Imperial Guard? Do you know how much effort I put into convincing Valence to be stubborn?!"

"I'm just keeping my promise, my lord. ”

"Then you can join the cavalry wing! I don't want a guard now, but an officer who can lead the soldiers, and it will be easier for others to accept you, what is your purpose in doing this?!" Theodore roared in a low voice, "If you think that you can spy on me and make me fulfill my promises, I am Caesar, and I will never go back on what I said!"

"I apologize if this embarrasses you. Elendil said, "I just want to protect Helena more hode, and only the knight of the Imperial Guard can do it." ”

“weishenme？！”

"Isn't it?" Elendil smiled imperceptibly, "You're not going to let her leave your castle, are you?"

“............”

"Sorry for taking advantage of your empathy, because I've seen something similar with another person. Elendil lowered his head: "So I hope you can understand my thoughts." ”

With that, Elendil turned away, and before he could open the door he heard Theodore's voice behind him.

"Are you really just loyal to me for her?"

"As you said, she is my Zuihou perseverance, and there is no substitute for her. Elendil replied lightly: "You are brave, wise, generous and kind. However, as a knight and as a man, if it weren't for helplessness, even if he met the master, he wouldn't kneel down easily. ”

After saying that, Elendil left a faint sad look behind him, and left in style, the corners of his clothes swayed gently, but he did not take away a single cloud......

Embarrassed to death.

Elendil's answer was really a disappointment to Theodore, or rather a dream was disappointed, and he was a little sullen along the way.

"My lord, what's wrong with you?" asked a knight with concern when he saw Theodore's sullen appearance.

"It's nothing, it's just a little stuffy lately. Theodore said casually.

As the ruler of Caesarea, Caesar of nearly 30,000 Romans, Theodore thought that he was a little kingly, although he did not dare to let everyone who saw him bow his head, and the beauties flocked to his arms, and the IQ of the enemies he encountered dropped by 80% instantly, but he also had some momentum.

But the reality is that even an unlucky guy who ran away with his sister, a former petty officer, and a young man in his 20s who had to take refuge in Theodore, dared to say extremely chic and arrogantly: "People also have backbone, but they are loyal to you when they have no rut, don't think too much." ”

It hurts my self-esteem too much......

So Theodore needs to find a balance, such as a more spineless, or even more unlucky unlucky guy - Dio.

Of course, it can't just be for such a boring question, but more to come and inspect it, let them know who they are working for, and it can also make them more motivated.

Although it was an inspection, it was impossible to go too far, just to go around the nearest quarry, which was also the office of Dior, the "overseer".

On the gentle slope of the hill, a large chunk of the mountain was dug up, revealing the stone layer inside, and the unclothed criminals took out the strength to eat under the whip of the overseer, and struggled to dig out the stones with the iron chisels and pickaxes in their hands, and the dust raised covered the paths on the hillside, and the wet bodies were covered with sweat.

These overseers with beer bellies are all small bandits who were originally unwelcome, who have suffered all kinds of lessons in the shadow of the original Colester, and now they are turned into serfs and singing, and they are singled out by Dior as his dogs, gritting their teeth and returning the past sins to these guys tenfold and hundredfold.

"Hurry up for me, you pigs! When will you have lunch at this rate?! If you dare to be lazy, give him a whip, don't be soft!"

The current Dior is no longer the original decadent teenager, an immature recruit, naked and refined upper body, wearing thick boots to patrol back and forth on the path, with the exquisite long sword that Diodor gave him at the waist, with a body of chocolate-like muscles, he looks very stylish, standing on the stone and shouting loudly to command the "labor prisoners" under his command to hurry up.

"Well done, Dior!"

"Who dares to ......" Dio just wanted to scold, and when he looked back, there were more than a dozen Imperial Guard knights wearing purple cloaks standing at the foot of the mountain, and the person in the middle was naturally self-evident.

"Master Theodor!" exclaimed Dio, and when he saw the curious eyes around him, he immediately scolded back: "Keep working for me, you brainless idiots!

"Salute my lord!" said Dior, who trotted all the way, jumped down the hill and fell to one knee in front of Theodore.

"It seems like you're comfortable with this kind of life. Theodore smiled and raised his hand: "Come, get up!"

"Yes, my lord!" Dior replied, stood up, and looked up at Theodore with his head brunch, "Excuse me, do you have any orders for coming here?"

"No, just drop by and take a look. Theodore replied casually: "By the way, do you have anything you need, now your work is related to the construction of Caesarea, so I have to come and ask." ”

"This ......" was suddenly asked such a very concerned question, Diorio was a little embarrassed, and thought for a while: "Can you provide some ......more manpower?"

"Are there not enough people?"

"It's not enough, it's ...... Can't keep up. Dio sighed: "The amount of wood and stone and clay that you adults want is almost increasing day by day, and the lumber yard is better, and the quarry will die almost every day during this time, but the food is enough!"

“...... I understand. Theodore said a little dullly: "I will have someone bring you some medicine and bandages, and wood and stone, you had better give me a ration, how much so that there will not be too much damage, and ensure that it can be provided continuously." ”

"Xiexie you!"

"The food doubled today, and I had people bring it. Theodore patted him on the shoulder and blinked his left eye: "Don't say I gave it!"

Just this look made Dio cry with gratitude—the adults actually considered his prestige, and instantly felt that all the hardships and sins were worth it.

It was about three o'clock in the afternoon that Theodore returned to the castle of Caesarea, and he was so sleepy that he almost fell asleep when he returned to his room, and he was drowsy and unconscious of his dream.

When he awoke, it was already night, and the moonlight was like water in front of the bed, Theodore staggered up, took a hot bath, and the sleepiness caused by fatigue gradually subsided, rubbed his forehead, and he was temporarily awake, and walked out of the castle in a loose robe, intending to take a walk in the courtyard and have some pastime.

Even Caesar needs a pastime, doesn't he?

Especially at this time, the citizens who have little nightlife have long gone to bed, and the whole town is silent as if it has been drowned in the night sky, and there are too many stars in the sky to count, as if you can touch them with your hand.

Such a scene was rare in Theodore's previous life, even in the countryside.

Holding the candlestick, I walked down the stairs leisurely, and the cold touch of marble came from my feet, and I walked forward leisurely.

"Julian...... Sir?!"