In the second meeting with Hyacinth, Zhang Heng learned what the Balance Blade thought of him. Even if he took the initiative to warn Hyacinth that Altrus, who would be appearing next to Commodus tomorrow, was a fake, Hyacinth would be still unwilling to disclose more information about their next plan. She had made it clear that she did not fully trust Zhang Heng.
And there was nothing Zhang Heng could do about it. This was probably the negative impact of his disbelief in Kreis. It had caused the Balance Blade to doubt which side he was on in the upcoming war. Considering that he mingled with Commodus now, whether he was willing to abandon everything to join the Balance Blade to help them to maintain the balance was also a question worth discussing. And the Balance Blade clearly wasn’t willing to bet on Zhang Heng’s loyalty at this critical time.
There was nothing wrong with that. If Zhang Heng were in their shoes, he too wouldn’t have trusted a newcomer who did not have much sense of belonging to the organization. That would mean Zhang Heng had now become an outsider.
After that, Zhang Heng came to the palace to report on time the next morning. Unlike before, Clint seemed to have missed his arrival this time. He was still talking to his colleagues around him. When the others saw how their leader, Clint, had treated Zhang Heng, they started to do the same.
Zhang Heng knew that this was Clint expressing his dissatisfaction over his refusal to persuade Commodus with him. However, he had all his attention diverted to the war between the Balance Blade and Altrus and the Hounds. Since Zhang Heng had no intention to work as an advisor for the rest of his life, he was not bothered by how he was being treated. Thus, he looked for a corner and stood there alone.
After a while, the generals of the imperial army responsible for the emperor’s safety showed up. The emperor’s departure from Rome was a major event. The security detail had to be perfected no matter what. Fortunately, Commodus was heading was only twenty miles outside the city, and there was also a military camp there.
Therefore, it was not necessary for him to bring too many guards with him. Sixty elite guards were more than enough to deal with all kinds of emergencies. However, to be safe, the general assigned nine teams of soldiers to protect Commodus, exceeding one hundred people in total.
Other than protecting the emperor, Commodus, they were tasked to protect Altrus as well. After all, the latter’s identity was very sensitive. There had always been rumors that he was on the target list of assassins. Besides, this was the first time he showed up in public. This time, the imperial army had to pay extra attention to their surroundings.
The leader of the imperial army was the civic officer, Sebutul. Fully covered in armor, he wielded a sword as well. With a red cloak behind his back, he gave off a majestic look. And he had even brought two centurions as deputies.
When Zhang Heng saw one of the centurions, he was a little surprised. He realized that the man looked very similar to the portrait given to him by the one-eyed Samaritan. Zhang Heng had been a target for assassination while he worked in the southeast city. He pursued the assassin, and the assassin led him to the middleman. He learned that the person who hired the assassin was probably someone from the imperial guards. But at that time, he did not get the opportunity to get close to the imperial guard. Hence, he was forced to pause the investigation.
After Zhang Heng became an advisor, he did come in touch with the imperial guards. However, their base camp wasn’t was not in Rome. These guards were tasked to protect the palace, and the emperor adopted a shift system, where a new batch would come into the palace to replace the old guards from time to time. It meant Zhang Heng was only looking at the most recent batch of imperial guards. And he did not find his target among them.
This time, the guards were said to be directly transferred from the base camp. As for the guards in the palace, they still stayed there to protect the queen and others who lived there.
Zhang Heng didn’t know the name of the centurion behind Sebutul. As of now, he had been boycotted by Clint and the other advisors. It would be impossible to extract any information from them for the time being. That being said, it was not that hard to solve the questions that he had in mind. He simply had to walk toward Sebutul.
The civic officer had just arrived at the palace, and he still did not know the bitter relationship between Zhang Heng and Clint. Seeing Zhang Heng walking towards him, he seemed quite excited. He knew that the Oriental man in front of him was a new rising star. However, he was puzzled to see that Zhang Heng standing alone in the corner. Before Sebutul figured out the reason, he saw Zhang Heng walked towards him.
Thus, Sebutul also took the initiative to reach out and shake hands with Zhang Heng, before the two exchanged a few words. Strictly speaking, Sebutul and Zhang Heng belonged to different systems. However, that did not mean that he did not need political allies, especially those always by Commodus’s side and knew what the young emperor had in mind.
And after Sebutul chatted with Zhang Heng, he did not forget to introduce his two important subordinates. And he found out that Zhang Heng seemed to be interested in one of his centurions, namely Herto.
Zhang Heng looked into Herto’s eyes while shaking hands. “Are you from Thracian?”
“Yes.” Herto did not seem to want to look at Zhang Heng. After a short moment of eye contact between the two, Herto looked away.
“Have we met before? I think you look kind of familiar.”
Herto was taken aback, “Have I? I don’t think so. I usually stay in the barracks and don’t go into the city very often.”
Sebutul was the kind of person that took good care of his subordinates. Seeing that Zhang Heng was interested in Herto, and how Herto did not seem to be very good at talking, Sebutul tried to help Herto out. “Herto is an honest man. He doesn’t talk much, but he fought valiantly in the battle. He once participated in the Roman Parthian War with General Pompeanus and achieved outstanding feats. Later, he followed General Pompeanus back to Rome, and he was asked to join the imperial guard. Actually, it is a waste of his talent serving as a centurion. Sooner or later, my position will belong to him.”
Herto was not particularly excited after hearing what Sebutul said. Instead, his expression changed slightly. He took a quick peek at Zhang Heng saw that his expressions remained the same. It relieved Herto a little.
Then Zhang Heng said, “I didn’t expect centurion Herto to be so brave.” He then started to talk about another centurion. And the four chatted for a while afterward. They then saw Commodus and a man with secutor’s helm walking down the stairs together.
The crowd, too, had also calmed down. This time, Commodus was no longer the protagonist in the house. Most of the people had their attention focused on the mysterious man beside him.
The secutor’s helmet was designed to protect his head. Therefore, the materials used to craft it was extremely tough, leaving only two observation holes.
