Imperator: Resurrection of an Empire

The Eternal City of Romanus lay bathed in morning light, its marble towers glowing beneath the rising sun.

Markets bustled, merchants called out their wares, and children ran through the streets with wooden swords in hand, shouting imaginary war cries as they pretended to be legionnaires.

To them, the wars waged beyond Romanus' borders were stories of glory and conquest — distant, yet ever-present.

Within the Royal Palace, however, the mood was far from celebratory.

Julius sat alone in his private chamber, his eyes fixed on the translucent panel hovering before him — a manifestation of the System, visible only to him.

[Victory in Conquest: Ramie Kingdom Conquered]

Your nation has gained combat victory experience

Earned Experience List;

Strategic Grade Ax1 Bx4 Cx7

Victory Over 2x Enemy Forces

You are now Level 44

You are now Level 45

...

...

You are now Level 48

Julius had only gained minor rewards for his victory in the Greecian war since no actual conquest was achieved in the end, at least not yet, and the rewards for the take over of the Carthaginian lands would not happen until the legitimate ruler, Queen Serena official bent the knee and offered up the crown him in.

But even so each level granted him a boon of more Points.

Every 10 level ups the amount of points earned per level up increased.

You have earned level-up points

Points owned: 7600

The points in his 'wallet' now were an astronomical sum compared to when he'd first arrived in this world.

With these points he could enhance his own power level to make him an even greater force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, or to be provided as fuel for the skills already under his command.

Or even to acquire new skills to add to his already existing arsenal.

Lastly would be to enhance items through strengthening them.

Which was what Julius presently was saving for short of if there was an incident requiring emergency spending.

His mythical blade would be evolved and in doing so he hoped a truly divine weapon would be found in his hands ensuring his continued existence for many more years to come.

He had known of Ramie's fall hours before the messenger pigeon arrived.

The System's message had flared before his eyes the moment Bente's blade struck down King Aled.

The kingdom's annexation was instantaneous in the System's logic — a cold, mechanical confirmation that thousands of lives had ended to bring about a single result.

Julius knew he could do far more with them than simply strengthen himself.

Romanus itself could now be shaped by his choices, and thanks to being now a part of Romanus, Ramie's own citizens could also benefit in this.

The pigeon finally arrived a short time later, the wax seal broken by one of Julius' aides before being handed to him.

The scroll detailed everything — Bente's victory, the queen's surrender, and the capture of the surviving royal family.

He read the report in silence, already knowing how the story had ended.

He exhaled slowly, setting the parchment aside.

~

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

Miri entered, scrolls tucked under her arm.

"Your Majesty,"

she greeted.

"The report from Bente has arrived."

"I've already seen it."

Julius tapped the scroll he'd set aside.

"King Aled's death. The queen and her daughters are safe?"

Miri nodded.

"Commander Berta ensured their protection. There were… rumors of Carthaginian soldiers seeking vengeance. But Berta's presence stopped it."

Julius exhaled.

"Good. The queen will be treated well. For now we'll have them sent to Intin, perhaps the queen can convince that scatterbrain Queen to cease her activities..."

"And the soldiers?"

Miri asked.

"The men are celebrating, but they'll want direction soon."

"I know."

Julius gestured to the glowing System display.

"I've been… considering our next steps."

Miri's eyes narrowed.

She couldn't see the System, but she had grown familiar with how Julius paused when interacting with it.

"You've already chosen, haven't you?"

she asked.

Julius smiled faintly.

"Yes."

"Have the commanders meet me in the war room this evening,"

Julius ordered.

"We're going to begin reorganizing the legions — and I want the engineers working on new siegecraft designs before the week is out."

Miri smiled.

"They'll be pleased. Bente especially, that man really loves his siege warfare."

"Good,"

Julius muttered.

"He's earned it, and there is surely more to come."

~

With his solitude returned to him, julius once more turned to his system, except towards the national management section of it rather than his own personal status.

In the last few weeks he'd been refraining from investing further into his city, saving the build points for when they would be needed to rebuild and enhance not only Ramie, but Parthia and Carthage as well.

Just like when he'd taken over the Lunan Remnant, Territories of Roserun, and even the initial Bridget Kingdoms.

Julius had been stockpiling points unlike his personal ones, these could be used by his system to erect walls, wall mounted defences, even buildings within his owned and controlled territories.

This allow his nation to grow at breakneck speeds, as military forts could be erected allowing for the fast arrival of military forces to the local area at all times, while his personal construction of buildings allowed for town and city development to accelerate at an amazing pace.

Even now it still shocked him that he was the only one to not notice the changes whenever he'd use the system to build something knew often times right in front of his peoples faces only for them to act like the building that had popped up out of nowhere right before their eyes had always been there the whole time, and not only that but that they knew exactly what it was for, and that citizens of the city or town already had positions and jobs working in these newly created places.

With this national overview provided by the system, Julius could keep track of the unemployment in his cities and ensure that it did not run, rampant.

That crime remained at a tolerable level.

And that he could ensure proper housing and facilities for the tens of thousands who enlisted into his growing legions.

As he mused over the coming tour where he'd race through the new provinces all the while bringing their cities and towns up to the expected standards of the Romanus kingdom, with the end of this tour being in the restored kingdom of Carthaginia to accept their fealty and his engagement to their Queen Serena.

But even as this tour was about to get underway his thoughts still dwelt on Francia and the news he awaited to hear from his trees shadow as to the confirmation of if Yuri was being taken to the idiot prince, or was just traveling through on her way to another nation instead.