The Holy City—Aslan. This was the city founded by the Christians who remained to build their homes there. The fertile soil allowed the city to develop rapidly. A magnificent, holy cathedral was built upon the attack marks left by the holy spear, and the marks themselves were revered as a sacred relic. At the same time, a dagger once used by the Holy Knight, the Son of God, Aslan, was also enshrined here.
Of course, the Aslan of the present was unaware of these future events. It was precisely because of this city and the legends passed down that Aslan's "Holy Knight" aspect was solidified. Later, after meeting Attila, the Scourge of God, and temporarily halting her advance due to certain events, his identity as the "Son of God" became even more widely known. Although Aslan's "Son of God" status was self-proclaimed in a way, centuries later, who would care? As long as Christianity didn't miss the opportunity for propaganda, the name Aslan would surely be recorded on the list of saints.
In truth, Aslan himself wasn't very hopeful about how many Machine God fragments were in the western part of Rome. After all, the continent was vast, and the eastern region of the Roman Empire already extended into Asia. The likelihood of Greek Machine God fragments appearing in Asia was... exceedingly slim.
As Aslan, holy spear in hand, entered the eastern regions, he found that the lifestyle and attire of the residents here were somewhat different from those in the west—another unique flavor of culture. However, similarly, the residents here lived in greater poverty than their western counterparts. But after arriving here, he could often see artifacts from the distant East.
In this era, the eastern region of the Roman Empire was still 200 years away from the birth of Islam. The so-called holy wars had not yet begun, which was a good thing for Aslan, who was traveling under the guise of a Holy Knight.
Aslan first followed a southerly route eastward, traveling all the way to the region near India. Along the way, he discovered two Machine God fragments. One of them, due to its ability to endlessly purify water sources, was even revered as a sacred object by a tribe. Taking this fragment from the tribe took quite a bit of effort on Aslan's part.
Perhaps because he had been acting as a Holy Knight for so long, Aslan had unconsciously learned the art of "May the Lord persuade you." In short, he managed to persuade the entire tribe to migrate to a large Christian city. Compared to their original tribal life, the city was, of course, more prosperous, and the sacred object used to purify tainted water was naturally no longer necessary. Furthermore, Aslan understood that his status as a Holy Knight held some prestige among Christians, so he wasn't worried that the migrating people would be bullied or treated unfairly. If you tried to move these tribal people to a place where life was worse than before, they certainly wouldn't agree. If it hadn't been Aslan, but someone else who had brought these tribal people here, they probably wouldn't have handed over their sacred object so easily.
After dealing with these untroublesome matters, Aslan did not intend to proceed directly into India. India at this time was in a rather chaotic period, and Buddhism was also flourishing. His body was from Great Britain; in a sense, stepping into the territory of India would mean completely entering the Eastern world. There was no way the Machine God fragments could have traveled that far.
So, the next step was to turn directly north and head for the northeastern border of Rome. Looking at the road leading north, Aslan felt a bit emotional. After meeting the Knights of the Round Table of Great Britain, he never thought he would have the chance to meet the legendary Scourge of God.
But thinking about it, the Rome of this era was rather pitiful. It finally got an emperor who might have been able to restore the entire empire, only for him to be defeated by King Arthur. Afterward, King Arthur rushed back to quell a rebellion, while Rome lost the one figure who could have resisted the Scourge of God in the east. As a result, Attila drove straight into their territory... It was all a matter of fate.
If King Arthur's glorious legend hadn't lasted only ten years, and if the East at this time wasn't in its Northern and Southern dynasties period, Aslan might have considered heading east after touring Rome. After all, he didn't exist in the original history, which meant he didn't need to be tied down to any one region. He could just wander around wherever he pleased.
As his thoughts wandered, Aslan and Melusine advanced slowly, as if on a tour. It was like a honeymoon trip after marriage. During this journey to find the Machine Gods, the two's relationship also grew ever closer. Plus, Melusine could now revert to her original form at any time, and they had already done what needed to be done. Aslan also began to take the initiative in his spare time.
Of course, what "taking the initiative" entailed need not be elaborated on here.
Are you kidding? If you mention some things too often, you can easily get censored!
Meanwhile, in the capital of Rome, in the imperial palace, Lucius, looking at the various documents before him, constantly rubbed his forehead. He sighed heavily, wanting to just flip the table. Fighting outside was so much more satisfying. Why did he have to look at this pile of documents? Couldn't he just hand them all over to those old bastards in the Senate!
Lucius looked at the documents concerning the people's livelihood and the financial situation of various regions and slammed his fist on the table. He had a feeling that he recognized every single word, but why did they, when pieced together, feel like a confusion spell had been cast on his brain, making everything unclear?
The subordinates around Lucius were already used to this situation. That's right, the emperor who seemed perfect in their eyes had a serious flaw: he was terrible at handling paperwork. Even though there were fewer documents now, at the emperor's processing speed, he probably wouldn't be able to eat dinner again today. But Lucius should be used to it by now.
Outside the palace, a soldier soon hurried in with a letter. Lucius looked up, gazing expectantly at the messenger. He excitedly took the letter in his hand, as it could be the key to his escape from the sea of paperwork.
Licking his lips, he opened the letter. Lucius happily clenched his fist and pumped it in the air. This was exactly the news he had been hoping to see. He slammed the letter down on the table, and the emperor issued his command. "Send all these damn documents to those old coots! Assemble the army! I am personally heading to the eastern region!"
Finally, he could go have a good fight!