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Paulus, however, remained indifferent, “O noble envoy of Theonia, you can see the chaotic situation outside the inn, and we are just doing that to protect your lives. And I didn\'t come for the past ten days because the Senate has been repeatedly and fiercely debating Theonia\'s proposal, but there wasn\'t any clear result.”

“So, there is a result now?”

“Yes.” Paulus then said with a grave expression, “Volsci and Rome are bitter enemies. During Rome\'s weakest time, the Volscians relied on their strength to continuously invade our lands and slaughter our people… Now, the Roman citizens had finally made up their minds to eradicate the Volscians, our mortal enemy, in this war. Thus during our emergency citizen assembly, a proposal to continue the war was passed with overwhelming support, so I can only apologise…”

But Tapirus was neither shocked nor disappointed since king Davos had already expressed his hope for Rome to reject this proposal before Tapirus left Thurii.

Moreover, Tapirus\' main task was to go deep into the city of Rome and learn about its political, military, social and other matters. And even though they couldn\'t leave the inn, they bought the inn\'s servants and bottom service personnel and learned a lot from them.

Tapirus then smirked as he asked, “It seems like…you had to hold a citizen assembly?”

“Since the Senate could only debate and couldn\'t decide, we had to resort to the citizen assembly to resolve it,” Paulus said solemnly.

“Hmm, well then. I can only bring your decision back and tell our king.” Tapirus was somewhat looking regretful, but he was, in fact, eager to leave this place.

“I have really wronged you for keeping you in the inn all this time! As an apology, I present you, the envoy, and your entourage a gift from our Senate and on behalf of the citizens of Rome.” With a wave of Paulus\' hand, the soldiers accompanying him carried two chests.

When he opened it, silver coins that should amount to at least two talents filled the chest.

Rome’s delaying tactic allowed them to occupy more Volscian land as much as possible to increase their weight in their negotiations with Theonia. Then the money was to bribe Theonia\'s delegate, hoping he would say something good for them when he goes back. After all, even after receiving explicit support from Carthage that made the Romans much more courageous, they still didn\'t want to go to war with Theonia after rejecting their proposal. In the end, even with Carthage\'s help, a war with Theonia would just cause some losses to Rome. Thus if they could avoid it, they would avoid war as much as possible.

Tapirus blinked and said, “Thank you”, and accepted the money without hesitation.

Naturally, he doesn\'t want this money for himself because, per the law enacted in the previous year, accepting gifts from foreign countries was an act of bribery. Thus if he were to covet the money, his entourage would file reports to the Ministry of Inspection and be held accountable once he returned. And why he accepted it so he could bring back the money and hand it over to the Ministry of Finance as his small contribution as the envoy to Rome.

As for speaking good words for Rome, that is impossible! Tapirus would only tell king Davos about what he had seen and heard in Rome.

The Roman Senate then arranged for guards to escort the Theonian delegates to the Port of Ostia for their safety.

Once Tapirus and his entourage left the inn, numerous Romans shouted at them, “Theonians, you are not welcome here in Rome! Get out of Rome like the dog you are!”

“Damned Theonians! How dare you threaten us with war and try to steal our land?! We will tell you these, we Romans do not fear war, and we will kill as many of you as you come!”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Besides cursing, the Romans also threw garbage at the Theonians, but the guards managed to block most of them with their long shields.

Cassius, the praetorian prefect, could only apologise, “I am truly sorry! These guys are rude and ignorant but are courageous warriors when it comes to fighting. I hope you don\'t mind!”

‘Is that even an apology?!’ Tapirus\' eyes narrowed to slits. Then vaguely said, “I heard Rome has many rude and ignorant commoners like them, so I fear you won\'t be well off either once they turn their aggressiveness when facing the enemy towards the Roman nobility.”

Cassius\' expression turned unsightly after hearing that.

In the afternoon, the Theonian delegates finally left the Port of Ostia by boat.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Samnites were greatly shocked once the catastrophic defeat of the Caudini tribe spread throughout the Samnite region.

At the request of the Caudini, the four major tribes of the Samnites immediately held an emergency meeting in Caudium to discuss how to deal with this matter.

“Esteemed great chieftains, the Theonians breach our treaty by sending an army to ambush our Caudini people who went out to plunder on the Campanian plains. Without any precaution, our Caudini chieftain, Segobani, and more than two thousand warriors were captured! And we also suffered a casualty of three thousand warriors, with all tribes suffering severe losses… After the battle, our Caudini tribe immediately sent people to negotiate with the Theonians in Campania, but they refused to release our captive tribesmen and great chieftain. Instead, they arrogantly warned us that we must stop all hostile activities.

Now, the Theonians stationed their troops in Atella, threatening our territory in the west like hungry wolves. Thus the tribes living around Nola, Suessula, and Capua are moving to the mountains for fear of getting wiped out. And now, the whole Caudini region is in chaos…

Hence, as a descendant of Savoni, I implore you, the great chieftains, to join forces and stop the Theonian invasion and avenge the dead Caudini people!” Usibek, another great chieftain living within Caudium, tearfully pleaded.

“When we entered Caudium, you must have seen its tragic situation! If we continue letting the Theonians run wild like this, the current Caudium will be us tomorrow!” Konteruk, the great chieftain of the Caraceni, stood up angrily.

The Caraceni tribe inhabited the central part of the mountainous region, with the Pentri, Hirpini, and the so-called Samnite branch, the Frentani, whose numbers and territory are the smallest, surrounding them. Moreover, the Caraceni tribe are the most courageous among the tribes and adhered to the ancient traditions of the Samnites the most.

“Ten years ago, I told everyone not to fear the Theonians because even if they kill many of our warriors, we, as the descendants of the wolf god Savoni, will fight them to the end!” Then Konteruk, whose voice was as loud as a bell despite being over a hundred years old, pointed at Badani, the great chieftain of the Pentri, “You had bent your knee to the enemy for your captured father and people, but your father, who felt ashamed, committed suicide after he returned. Don\'t you want to avenge him?!”

“And you-” Konteruk pointed his finger at the grand chieftain of the Hirpini, Lesguk, and rebuked, “In the war ten years ago, your tribe suffered the most casualties and also lost a lot of lands, such as Compsa and Irna. But as the great chieftain, instead of taking revenge and getting back your territory, you had flattered the enemy like a dog! So what\'s the result?! Instead of giving you any benefits, the Theonians insidiously alienated the relations between your tribes, causing Abellinum to ignore your order and instead befriend the Theonia! That\'s simply a shame!”

“And you, Caudini!” Konteruk then pointed his finger at Usibek, “If your grand chieftain hadn\'t supported those two idiots in signing the treaty with Theonia in the first place, he wouldn\'t be the enemy\'s prisoner today! Look at your territory, such as Nuceria, where the people have abandoned their faith in the great wolf god and started worshipping those foreign gods! That\'s a betrayal of our ancestors! That\'s simply blasphemous! Your today\'s defeat is the punishment of Savoni!”

Lesguk, Badani and Usibek became ashamed at Konteruk\'s scolding. Since Konteruk was the oldest Samnite chieftain who had stayed in his position for nearly thirty years and had the most seniority and prestige in the tribal alliance, they couldn\'t refute him even though they disagreed.

At this time, the Samnite\'s high priest, Rhogni, said sternly, “Those insidious and cunning Theonians have sinister intentions against our Samnite. Not only do they want to divide our people, but they also want to replace our great gods with their evil gods, destroy our traditions and turn us Samnites into their slaves! We can no longer hold back any more! We must take up arms and fight them to the end! Drive them out of the mountains, take back our land, and restore our faith!”

“It\'s not enough to just drive them out of the mountain! We must give them a heavy blow so they no longer dare to go against us Samnites again!” Konteruk emphasised.

“Giving them a heavy blow?! That\'s easy for you to say!” The young Badani could no longer stop himself from retorting, “Do you know how big the kingdom of Theonia is? How many people do they have? While we can only gather together forty thousand warriors, Theonia can easily organise an army of a hundred thousand people!”