24. Fight for the Throne Part 1

Justinus Caeser sat on his throne watching his people bicker once more. Never in his life had he thought to be a king. His father went on and procreated with a maid which resulted in his birth. He was a bastard child to the bone. A few years earlier his father died resulting in the acquisition of the throne to fall on his legitimate son Arhieus but Arhieus was not a good king drowning in debauchery and corruption, rotting the nation from inside. He took down everything from those who opposed him and threw them as gladiators in his arena.

Many senates died mysteriously on his watch resulting in the lifestyle of the people of Rome to deteriorate incrementally. At the wit's end, people revolted all-around against the king's tyranny. It was around the time when Justinus was training at his uncle's back garden.

Justinus POV:

"Justinus, what is the one thing a competent ruler has?"

"Class, Wealth, prestige and renown, sir"

"While that might be true what else?"

Justinus could not answer. His feeble mind could not understand on what answer his uncle desired. Uncle Silvarres, A renowned general of the late king of Rome. The fabled golden hero, as he was known for, abdicated from his position after the death of his father. Later on, he decided on adopting me from gladiator's school to personally train me. Still, now his mind could not understand why was he chosen among other's who are even more competent than him. His life was deemed to end shortly anyway, for he had none of the warrior's blood but was a genius in the art of war.

Current Roman politics depended mostly on soldier's, complex tactics had not yet etched on the minds of the rulers as such his value in truth was close to nil. But even then, uncle Silvarres paid an exorbitant amount of money just to secure him.

"The correct answer would be charisma. wealth, class, prestige, and renown can be easily gained with accomplishment but charisma its an inherent skill of a human being. You, Justinus do possess more than the average individual, although your sword style is unrefined with enough time it would come to place"

"..."

"Now then care to share your thoughts on the current political climate of Rome"

"Isn't it common knowledge. All the peasants are shouting and raving about it. Just go ask them instead of asking me such a question" He said off-put by such a query. What need is of him to know, what those blood-curdling and mind-numbing senates do? In his eyes, the people with such titles were the lowest of the low. In his childhood, he made a friend Aria she was a foreigner, brought as a slave by his master. He saw how she was ravaged over and over again. Later on, they introduced a new religion just so they could rape women whenever they want.

They had their uses but it would not justify their wrongdoings. Justinus was born a gladiator so he knows their pain and sorrow, as such could sympathize with them, unlike those high strung families who used them as nothing but cattle and sheep.

Justinus in his mind could never judge them as good individuals as such committed to staying as far as possible from them.

"Even though they rave about such, I want to know on how you would determine their condition"

" Worthless but a necessity"

"That's true roman society had existed because of their contributions without their aid people would have fallen to anarchy. Lawless and uncivilized, we would be no different than those barbarians living on the south"

"Uncivilized? You should check the definition once more. Perhaps your age is failing your eyes, uncle..."

"Enough. I've heard enough of your treasonous statements. You are quick to rile up Justinus, if the hate, you have in your heart against your own people does not subside as easily, then you would simply fall like others. Personal emotions should not act as deterrence of a person's skill and competence" those words from his uncle was like a cold shower over Justinus's head.

He knew it already. But yet could not help be disappointed at the current climate of Rome. Not a shed of empathy was in the heart of the people. All were measured in gold coins of their 'true' ruler. Just when he was about to give in for the day a messenger entered his uncle's doorstep.

He decided to watch their exchange out of curiosity.

"What brings you here, royal messenger? I'm not a part of the army anymore as such what warrants a need for you to come?"

The messenger simply passed the parchment and decided to leave in silence without answering any question. It must be quite serious as even at the worst of days the guy would at least exchange a few words with the others but now his eyes seemed a bit hollow.

His uncle opened the missive to read its contents. After a while, a wide smile etched his entire face.

That Night:

The house possessed by his uncle was not small. It had everything that those senates or high officials had, a personal bathhouse, a wide common room, a personal bedroom, and a few places here and there. It one did not know of its structure beforehand it was easy to get lost walking in the interior.

He had just finished dinner and was about to hit the sack, like every day since his stay on this manor. But then his uncle wished him to be present in his room. He was intrigued by what his uncle would like to say. Would he again join the war or is the missive from the king declared him as a traitor to the nation? It was a common tactic used by the emperor when a powerful individual left their position from the Roman army.

He silently entered his uncle's bedroom. The bedroom was quite spacious with a bedside table and an open view veranda which was quite an uncommon design in this current time. Other noble houses preferred an enclosed space as cus the lethality from falling from so high and easy access to spies and assassins acted as a hindrance to its design. It just showed how fearless his uncle was to have accepted it or was it because he actually had nothing to hide? Every individual had a few bones hidden in their closet but his uncle may truly have nothing which others could use.

"Now, then Justinus. Whatever I am about to say, will not leave these four doors. Is that clear?"

"Yes, uncle. You have my word as a previous gladiator" His uncle smiled while being a gladiator was a symbol of shame for others as most criminals are sent to the arena, this boy wore it with pride. He could not be any happier about how Justinus was raised. His now serious eyes reminded him of his mother once more.

"Arhieus, the current ruler of Rome was assassinated fortnight ago..." He wanted to know how the boy would react to the news as Arhieus even though he did not know that he was related to him, was still his stepbrother. Justinus smiled which later turned into a vicious grin,

"Finally the bastard's gone. At least, he had done a great favor to the rest of the Rome with his death" Silvarres smiled wryly at his actions. It was no hidden fact of Justinus's hatred towards the upper class but still, he expected a bit of remorse from the connections they had between royalty.

"huh..." Maybe he read a bit too much into those romance novels written by those bards or getting senile with his age.

"Tomorrow, you Justinus will lay claimant to the throne."

Justinus was shellshocked by this revelation. But he was known as a quick-witted child for nothing, "I'm afraid I will do no such thing"

"Why?" His uncle was intrigued. This would be the first time Justinus went against his orders.

"If Arhieus is truly dead then that means the royal court is in a shambles now. The reason he could have been would be wide but because of his personality it could be narrowed into one that is his vices"

"..."

"The one who did so is possibly a patriot of Rome. In his ruling, Rome fell from its position from being the country of knowledge to a place of debauchery and wine. I would say it was a miracle that he survived that long. Going now to the royal palace without any sort of credence of my lineage would further provoke the ire of my brother's killers and I have yet to have found insurance to my survival there"

"A splendid description, indeed. But then how long would you wait like this? A month, a year, or the next ten years. Rome is not as strong as it was before as such you are running on a borrowed time"

Justinus smiled, "Do not worry uncle. I have made preparations already."

"Then the topic concludes now. I just wished to know that you have everything prepared now I can rest easy with the thought"

"Indeed"

A few days later:

Justinus woke up early in the morning running inside a deep forest.

"From what the journal mentioned, the sword should be around this place."

Deep inside the forest, he walked onwards. The scenery rapidly changing until he found himself inside a large cavern. Droplets of water dripped from within the crevice of stalagmites. Giving off a murky atmosphere.

"It's here" In front of him was a grave which seemed quite old.

"Let's start digging, now. Uncle would be waking up anytime, now. Better be quick about it lest I miss breakfast" Justinus with his makeshift shovel started digging.

There it was an old rotting pile of bones held on to a beautiful sword. Justinus without shame for desecrating Julius burial, pryed off the sword from him.

"So this is his legendary, Crocea Mors. With this, my ascension is guaranteed" Justinus smiled as got ready to leave the cave and enact his vengeance towards those senates.

The man could not help giggle at their misery.

Flashback:

Justinus wanted insurance. By no means would he step at that landmine without anything to protect himself. The easiest way of assurance would be the belongings of the previous royalty but at times it would be quite hard to find something like that.

"Looks like the young prince is in trouble"

Justinus immediately unsheathed his sword. He began to look around frantically in search of the owner of the voice. Finally, his eyes landed on a branch of the tree. A lady sat there wearing a gorgeous one piece with lavish decoration as of a royalty. No one knew his identity as of yet, so how would such women know.

"Calm down, pretty boy. I am not your enemy."

"..."

"Looks like I am distrusted quite a bit. It hurts me to know that you would raise your hands against a feeble woman like me" Although the words should be soothing to anyone else, to him it felt wrong. The woman herself felt wrong like those who ravaged his childhood friend.

"What do you want?" He decided to ask. If she dares to attack him now, he would simply call his uncle. Justinus was smart. An unknown woman would not fearlessly walk up to him while he was armed with a sword unless she knows that she could take him on.

"You're forgiven. What I want is to simply help you" He looked skeptically at the women. 'She wants something in return' that's what he could decipher from her words.

"hmm...I see you catch on fast. You wanted insurance to safely ascend the throne. So take this as it would help you on the journey" said the woman with a wide smile on her face. Justinus immediately knew not to take her lightly as she threw a book towards him.

"What is this?"

"This contains the location of what you need the most now. The legendary sword of Julius Ceaser" His eyes immediately narrowed in rage.

" And why do you have this?"

"Oh, you do not have to worry about such trivialities. Just eat the apples without counting how many. It would be good for your health. Now, have a safe day"

"Wait, you are giving me this book just like this?" He was baffled on why would she give such a treasure to him. She must have some ulterior motives.

"You will soon know, boy. With this, I will take my leave"

"At least tell me your name?"

"I guess, it would not hurt to do so. Morgan. Just Morgan" With those words she disappeared leaving Justinus to ponder on her words.

.....

Can you people stop reading my novel and write a good highschool dxd novel. Honestly, I am so annoyed at the lack of it that I started writing my own one, and it's not fun for me. 800+ views in one day, I just wanna read something not write a new one. Yes, I am using my novel to make others write a good dxd novel. I am desperate for content:(.

Novels are like skooma for me now. Please, just a huff it won't cost you anything or something like that.

But anyways people who stick with this novel. Thanks for reading:)