Interlude 25.8 : It Was Over
Author’s Note : This interlude is part of a short SPQR-focused arc. It shows what was happening on the Roman side before the story returns to the main Britannian timeline. The main storyline will resume with Chapter 26 after these interludes.
In this fic, the EU has been replaced by the SPQR. Its official languages are Latin and Greek. For readability, SPQR dialogue is generally rendered in English unless the language itself matters to the scene. In-universe, characters are speaking Latin, Greek, Britannian, or other languages as appropriate.
This episode is told from the point of view of Regulus Cissingensis, former Head of the Bureau of Barbarians.
Crash
A wineglass flew toward the television screen.
Shards of glass and red liquid ran down the wall.
It was immediately after I received the news that I had been dismissed, along with the notice that every department-level officer directly under me had been placed on standby.
I, Regulus Cissingensis—
former ὁ ἐπὶ τῶν βαρβάρων, that is, the former Head of the Bureau of Barbarians—
entered through the Head’s private secret passage and gathered every weapon I could get my hands on before my access credentials were completely invalidated.
Just in case Leila, as she had done with Eugene, personally brought a Knightmare and blew up my entire residence, I even set booby traps throughout the house.
Then I shut myself inside my residence and turned on the television.
At that moment—
Archís’s testimony began to broadcast live.
“Archís!!! How could you—!”
I ground my teeth.
Paraklitís tís Archís.
Born in Jerusalem.
A member of the Mediterranean parasites in the broad sense.
In terms of seniority alone, he had even stood above me.
He would have made a perfectly acceptable ὁ ἐπὶ τῶν βαρβάρων, that is, Head of the Bureau of Barbarians.
And yet, he was a man who had abandoned his ambitions in order to care for his sickly wife.
Even after I, despite having less seniority, had been selected as Head because I came from Germania—the heartland of the Imperial House, the House of Altocastarenis, descendants of Barba Ruba, who had originally been Kaiser of the Holy Roman Empire, yet in his old age defeated Salah ad-Din, retook Jerusalem, entered Rome, Latinized his family name from Hohenstaufen to Altocastarenis, and established the New Western Roman Empire—
even then, Archís had remained the “ideal number two” without objection until the very end.
That was why—
even after ordering him to destroy the secure phone records and notes, I had not suspected him in the slightest.
Grrr
“Should I have killed that bastard first...?”
That was when it happened.
Bzzz
One of the senators I had been watching on social media—liking posts and even leaving comments from his personal account—started a live broadcast.
Vitalis Numidicus, a Roman senator from the province of Africa Proconsularis.
A former Taxiarchos, that is, a former colonel of the Roman Army.
“To the honorable Roman Senate and citizens, this is Vitalis.”
And beside him sat—
Eirēnarchos Hodopoulos, a Sarmatian senator of the Constantinopolitan Senate, a former officer of the Bureau of Barbarians, and the current Orientus, that is, the Minister of Energy.
“Greetings. This is Eirēnarchos.”
I could feel my face twisting with anger.
“These insane bastards...”
The bigger problem was the location.
A brown owl on a black background.
The symbol of the Bureau of Barbarians could be seen behind them.
“Today, we have come to the headquarters of the Bureau of Barbarians to lodge an official protest and request a meeting with the current most senior officer.”
The headquarters of the Bureau of Barbarians.
On the same day?
They actually accepted that?
A short while later—
Step
Step
The man who walked into the meeting room was just over forty.
“...Sergios Nikēphoros Daphnēs.”
Also from the province of Sarmatia, he was a junior from Eirēnarchos’s homeland, and also the Chief of the Special Search Division of the Bureau of Barbarians.
Grrr
“So you’ve already lined up behind someone else, you traitorous bastard...”
However—
“I apologize for making you come here under such unfortunate circumstances.”
It was an apology.
Sergios bowed deeply toward the camera.
“I apologize to the citizens.”
“We are not Regulus’s private army.”
“We are an organization that exists for God, the Imperial House, and the citizens of Rome.”
“We have disappointed you through this incident. We will make certain that such a thing never happens again.”
Ah.
It was over.
ὁ ἐπὶ τῶν βαρβάρων, that is, the Head, had been dismissed.
The most senior department head had surrendered at the hearing.
The other department heads had been arrested.
And now even the most senior division chief had publicly bowed his head.
Then what about the remaining division chiefs and team leaders?
I began making calls like a madman.
“The person you are trying to reach has blocked your call.”
“The phone is turned off.”
“The number you have dialed does not exist.”
Only one.
Barely one person answered.
“Fuck off, idiot.”
Beep
Beep
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!”
My scream echoed through the empty mansion.