2 To be a King (1)

After being dragged to deal with quite the interesting dream about killer robots and femme fatales, I started to slowly wake up, refreshed and all from what seemed to have been one of the longest slumbers I've ever had to deal with.

As my eyes opened at the annoying sunlight reaching from the windows by the room's left side, the first thing I ended up noticing in what was supposed to be my bedroom… was the distinct lack of my alarm clock and the comics I had started to hoard and keep by the empty section of my bedside.

Actually, there was no bedside to begin with, only some wooden furniture that barely resembled it.

My eyes closed again, I took a deep breath as I tried to recollect the few hours before engaging in a deep nap, my brain burning for the sake of getting some proper answers to what had been quite the odd awakening.

But while I had been initially interested in getting all the facts straight, the more memories returned the more I felt myself pale at the slow realization that something had indeed happened.

Oh my God, I am the victim of a kidnapping of the dimensional kind!

This presumptuous claim wasn't born out of delusional panic induced by this incredibly 'old-style' room where I just woke up into, but rather it was something that started to become more and more concrete the more I studied the pre-nap case.

There had been people, men and women all donning robes and dresses that were so antiquate that not those weren't even worth of wearing even by those loving the old medieval style.

I mean, how many could seriously love having clothes with some of the most unpleasant kind of fabrics in this time period?

Not many sane individuals- and that is why, considering the fact that there had been this mystical old man that had so happily pleaded guilty of committing such kidnapping of the absurd kind for-

Saving a kingdom… from Germanic Invaders.

A kingdom that was close to fall to this kind of threat- where I was currently being hold onto.

I should be panicking, I should be hyperventilating and trying to get out of there before serious war crimes happened in my general proximity.

There was no Geneva Convention!

Yep, stuff had indeed escalated from a mere walk to a 'Jesus Christ, take the wheel!' kind of issue.

And worst thing possible? I was mostly unsure of what to do.

Running away? I would have to deal with the slim chances of being a 'low-born' wandering around in bandits-filled lands and some other crazies lurking the woods.

Staying? Was this even a choice to begin with if it was the only viable option for me to pick.

My hands reached for my face and I let out the greatest of groans before I settled down and started to slowly rationalize everything.

First thing first, I was alive and… considered something of a nobility until I kept within… here.

What is 'here' and where it was specifically?

England was massive, but if I have to take a wild hunch, I would say that we are by the Wessex Region, the area which suffered the most the Germanic Invasions.

With my brain finally picking up the pace after the few moments of horrible panicking, I began analyzing the room I had just woke up into once again and I started to take note of the various elements present there.

The pieces of wood were a stark contrast to the entire stone-like structure this room was built with and it was quite the proof that I was in some-sort of luxury room within this castle.

This building- it had to be a castle. There was no way for any medieval civilization to create this kind of massive room if it wasn't installed in a castle.

Okay, I was making progress. Little progress, but enough to drive me to consider what I should do right now.

I was still clothed with my old stuff, nothing had been touched, except for the bag that was now sitting by the edge of the big bed in which I woke up into.

My first intention was pretty legitimate as I started to rapidly make a list of what I had in there.

Considering that I had planned for a little excursion, I was grimacing at how little I had on me.

My phone charger was useless, it wasn't any of the solar-powered ones that were starting to make an appearance to the market and I certainly didn't felt a need to buy one of those for the sake of a simple trip in the woods.

There were some toasts with ham and mayo, nothing that was meant to consume this early in the morning, and I could see that my water bottle was half-full, about 75% filled with some mineral water.

Pity that I hadn't packed Pepsi-

Oh God, there is no Pepsi in medieval times!

Groaning again and mourning the loss of what made me the most excellente Soda Fiend, I decided to drown my sorrow in what looked to be a little booklet that I had picked up from one of the various stores I had visited during my visit in some random villages nearby London.

Something that was written for tourists and thus lacked any of the 'boring' but now incredibly important information that I really needed to make use of if I wanted to survive this invasion.

But then again, am I in the wrong side of History right now?

Considering that I had to fully stop the invasions of the Germanic Invasions, thus repel the Angle and the Saxons (which would then become the backbone of the culture before the consolidation of the English tradition), maybe also the Jutes and other pseudo-vikings trying to raze and pillage cities left and right.

Morality would want me to stand aside and let this black mark in human history unfold but…

Since when morality beats sense of self-preservation?

I wasn't certainly going to give up my survival just because I didn't want to manipulate history- but then again why wouldn't I want to change stuff for good?

Butterfly effect aside, a massive and dangerous thing to do if I thought of the ramifications my actions might create after around a thousand years from now, I needed to seriously plan out something and-

My mind paused abruptly right as I caught some knocking originating from the lone door of the room.

Eyes turning to glance at it, I had just enough time to get up from the bed before replying.

"C-Come in."

Of course I would be stuttering, I chided myself with an inner face-palm.

The door opened to reveal the very elder that had been responsible for my current whereabouts, the old fossil looking fairly tired but nonetheless happy to see me well and healthy.

Donning some light-gray robes with hood included and wielding some long staff that arched with a light-blue sphere on top of it, I was half-tempted to address him as Gandalf, but I was quite surprised to find out that the first guy I had to receive was the one that caused my current presence here in this disastrous scenario.

I blinked and this little moment of silence from my part was taken as some permission to speak.

"I see that you are finally awake, milord," He greeted with a slow nod of his head, his smile widening just a little as he took a few steps towards me and then he stopped. "Good to see that you have recovered from that sudden faint, we thought that-"

I held my hands up as to gesture him to stop for a moment. "Quick question, shouldn't you be introducing yourself?" I asked with an unsure tone. "I mean, I would like to know who I'm talking with as… from my understanding there is this massive issue in the form of some invasion-"

"O-Oh," He seemed mortified by the point I was bringing up and he… tried to slowly kneel before me, forcing me to gesture nervously at that.

"Look there is no need to kneel or anything like that, there is no mistake in being forgetful once or twice in a while," I spoke once more, drawing some more surprise from the elder.

Said surprise morphed in awe as the gray-bearded man gave a quick nod.

"U-Understood, milord," He said with a brief hint of shock. "My name is Altuos and I'm the Chief of the Magus Guild here in Londinium."

He gave another bow with his head, yet my attention was drawn away from his name, which didn't ring any major bells in my head, but the two other elements did highlight two important bits.

Starting from the detail that I was most aware of, I could say that the situation is actually bad but not as worse as I had expected it to be for numerous reasons.

Londinium was the name of the old settlement before the conception of the proper city of London, it was an urban area that still flaunted some strong fortifications from the former Roman castrum which was fairly advanced compared to some of the early medieval complexes.

The big issue? Depending on the century I was yanked into, this city was either starting its decline or already hemorrhaging people, resources and capable soldiers because of the growing troubles rising on the island.

So, instead of playing the long guessing game, I decided.

"Altuos, I know it might sounds… curious to ask, but can you please remind me which year of the Lord are we living?"

He blinked, his surprise resurfacing but less than before as he merely gave a quick answer.

"It's the Year 453 of Our Lord, your majesty," The elder announced with a solemn voice, which I replied with a quiet hum as I found myself drawn back to my mind as-

I AM FUCKED!

The Fifth Century was supposed to be the period where Londinium would first be abandoned by its first settlers, either slaughtered by the now-approaching Germanic troops or forced to leave the city before the major battle would occur.

I restrained myself to let out a major swear word as I felt my brain trying to remind me something important.

This is like Crusader Kings 2, except instead of having to develop my military technology to develop tactics that could or not influence the battlefield, I was beginning with all the kind of proper strategies that could work in this Era.

Was I thinking of having an invincible army? Not yet, but I had plenty of opportunities if I knew a little more about the current state of the troops I had at my disposal.

But since I was perfectly aware that I would have just a handful of barely-trained peasants with some hunters in between their ranks, I was quite sure that 'fair battles' weren't going to do anything good for me.

I glanced at the elder and then I nodded. "So, I suppose that there is someone in command of the local troops and that this person might be needing my lead since we have an imminent invasion coming by."

"Commander Marcus Ambrosius is currently planning how to deal with the scout parties of the main force marching towards us," He mentioned as he starting to lead me out of the room and I walked beside him. "He will give you a better insight over the proper situation… I'm not much prepared in detailing the various elements that are required by this particular subject."

"Interesting and thank you for the exhaustive explanation, Altuos," I complimented kindly before actually shifting my attention to the second issue that I was completely caught me off-guard. "By the way, what is a 'Magus' and what does your guild specialize in?"

Magic exists- No, something similar to magic exists.

While magic itself was still a variable within the world, the most common predicament was what many had described as magecraft.

To say that I was immensely confused when my history mindset was shattered by the introduction of supernatural elements would be a massive understatement.

Altuos was blissfully unaware of the thoughts I was having over this kind of crazy subjects, which for some reason did make some sense when he started to apply some of the examples proposed by his guild.

Magecraft was a mix of magic and science, but it was strictly attached to the application of simple rational laws which weren't truly known to the folks studying in this era.

Many still confused it with real magic as it did create some awe-striking phenomenon that many were incapable of replicating via mundane means… or at least until someone decides to bring in some modern science.

And yes, it would be incredibly fascinating if said 'someone' bore my own name and had the same inner smug smirk that I had at the thought that there was something like magic- similar to magic.

Drat, I had to get a gist over the true meaning of magecraft before I begin making some silly assumptions with the wrong people.

The walk to reach the local barracks gave me a full glimpse of what I was supposed to the defend, with some peasants having already taken refuge within the little city inside the protective walls offered by the former Roman Castrum.

There were some children rushing by the sides of the main to look at the new king while I was following the old 'wizard' right to where the commander of the garrison had set up his tent and was currently planning everything about the defence.

I merely glanced at them, feeling fairly unsure over the immense pressure I had to face as there were other people that were stopping along the way to kneel, to bow, to show respect and… their willingness to put forward their hopes to me.

I had to put some effort to hold myself from flinching at what looked to be a parade of sort when I was actually visiting where the military planning was happening.

The only moment of relief from this unpleasant circumstance was right when I encountered the one man leading the little army that was supposed to defend the city.

Marcus Ambrosius was donning was seemed to be a mix of Celtic and Roman armor, several elements drawing mostly from the latter but I could also see some green decorations giving more details to his equipment.

Wait, does that mean that I had been talking with people in Celtic or in Latin?

The blond-haired man was looking at what looked to be a very old map, the best that this era could afford in terms of military planning and I was given another taste of how things were going to be from now on. He didn't seem too old, but he did look to have quite the experience from the highly-inquisitive glance he was giving me.

He was studying me from the very moment that I stepped inside his tent, giving me a certain sense of discomfort at being at someone clearly battle-hardened.

"Commander Marcus Ambrosius," The old man greeted with a polite tone, getting a nod in return from the soldier.

"Chief Altuos, I see that you have brought to me our new king."

Fuck, he is already trying to test me? I guess I should have expected this because of the issue at hand.

"You may refer to me when speaking, I'm not some shadow," I pointed out with a stern tone, holding back some edge from making it appear that I was trying to antagonize him.

"Yet you appear from some unknown places since you weren't there until yesterday," He shot back with a certain rough voice. "But please, do tell me what do you think-"

"There is a horde of monsters preparing to assault us, that there is for now a small group of scouts taking notes over the area where the fight is going to happen, the state of the walls and… the prospect of gains in the raids that would ensue in our possible loss," I interjected with a cynical perspective. "We are dealing with people that are driven by gold and lust of sin, people that can barely resemble civil human beings with what they are trying to achieve with such a mindset."

He seemed intrigued by my lengthy comment. "Sounds like you are aware of what these real barbarians are, kingly!"

"That shouldn't be a question, Commander," I dismissed with a sigh, trying my best to keep up with the battle of minds. Thank God that he wasn't getting more physical about this. "But I think we should direct our attentions to the issue itself, the scouts need to die before they can make a safe journey back to their tribes."

"And happily enrage our arrogant foes?" He asked with a hint of irritation, something I had predicted by the very blunt attempt I wanted to execute.

"No," I replied more than happily. "I want to blind them and reduce their chances in gaining some advantage in fighting against our troops."

I turned my attention to the map and I circled around right where the little drawings of trees were.

"We have forests, we have uneven terrain that our soldiers are experienced to wander around and maneuver properly," I continued to explain, this time imagining what could have driven the Germanic tribes to assemble this little recon party. "They know this and they had to recruit some of the disgruntled men living here to aid some of their veteran spotters in tracking down every single flaw in our city's fortifications."

"But wouldn't attacking their group cause our current garrison to weaken even more?" Altuos commented with some fascination over the matter.

"It would be the case- yet I suspect kingly has already a solution to this." The military-man snorted while shaking his head.

"C-Commander, have at least some respect for King-"

"Altuos, it's fine," I intervened quickly, turning my attention right at the blond. "I don't want to send just a number of people, I want to send only those that have experience in tracking and hunting animals."

"B-But why?" The elder questioned with some confusion over my logic, to which I gave a grave sigh about.

"When you assemble these man, Commander, I want you to tell them about the horrors that will occur if they fail to accomplish a perfect victory," I spoke with a quiet tone while referring to the soldier. "I want you to spare not a single restraint in detailing the atrocities that will happen the moment we lose even part of our lands to them, what will happen to their families, to their homes and… to their children."

There was a pause, then the blond smiled. "You wish them to truly hate the gutters of those filthy animals, don't you?"

"M-Milord, I don't understand what would you gain by giving such a terrifying recounting to the men defending this city when-"

"We are outnumbered, we have less than half that what the invaders can muster and we can't play 'fair' with them," I interrupted with a dismayed sigh. "While I understand your concern over the devious nature of this endeavor, I wish to also remind you that we can't just allow any reprieve to our aggressors. The moment they believe that we are vulnerable will be the moment were everything will be lost."

Another pause, this one longer than before as the old man seemed ot think about this while the blond merely hum.

"I hope there is more about that, we can't just play some minor ambushes and hope to destroy them little by little."

I shook my head. "I have some ideas, but for now we will focus on dealing with the recon units."

"I see," The commander nodded at my cryptic tone. "I will have the proper group sent before nightfall to intercept the scouts before they get too close."

I nodded back and decided that this was enough for now, saluting Marcus as I started to retreat with Altuos on tow.

There was some silence on the way back to the castle section, just enough for me to find myself away from the various witnesses in the forms of worried nobles and patrolling ward so that I could-

"This is… incredibly complicated," I commented while taking a pause by leaning by one of the walls, glancing at the quiet 'wizard'. "Do you think I was too excessive with these orders?"

The elder frowned at my words and I explained a little more.

"I wish to hear a proper judgment of what I did was correct or-"

"Considering the instance we are facing, I wouldn't lament too much that you wish for this kingdom to survive… but I hope that this isn't the sign of a tyrant in the making when some peace will reach our lands."

Oddly enough, I had expected this genuine chiding but I nodded.

"I'm taking some drastic precautions for the unfair situation we are facing," I muttered quietly. "Hopefully, things will stabilize soon enough to allow to repel the tribes from the beaches."

"It's our best hope," Altuos agreed with a small sigh, before giving me a long but deep look as if trying to understand… something about my face? No, it was… something else.

But what could have gotten his attention when-

"Milord, I think it would be good for you if you weren't to deal with the court, at least not in this state of mind," He suddenly suggested, catching my curiosity almost immediately. "I think it would be best if you spent some time thinking by the gardens, I will see to delay the encounter with the various guilds' representations for just a single day."

I was… surprised by this suggestion.

I had expected to face the royal court quite soon, especially with how much of an impact the invasion was surely slamming onto the various activities and works of this age and time, but to be offered some more time to think?

Maybe… it wouldn't be wrong for me to take some moments to taken in the fact I had just given my first serious orders as a monarch.

This was my first step, a bloody one to be truthful, but not one born from malicious intent.

Hopefully.

"I think I will accept this kind offer, Altuos."

"It's not kindness when your highness truly needs some proper time to recover with quite the important decision," He commented almost quickly. "And before you doubt yourself further, I can assure you that this unorthodox thought of yours isn't as harsh as you might expect it… considering the unpleasant alternative we currently have."

I nodded and, after some time enjoying the inner courtyard and the small garden installed in it, I managed to get some rest by the time the final report reached back home.

A quick letter, but one that portrayed a great success as the enemy force had been slaughtered by the punitive expedition… in quite the vengeful manners.

There had been no mercy, just like I had expected for those hunters to accomplish when pitted against the ugly face of the reality we were going to suffer rather soon.

I found some peace in my slumber, but I did found myself questioning the chances of the success behind this major campaign.

And so the first step for King Joseph's reign has been made… a bloody one for sure, but one that will pale before the future prophesied for such a doubtful ruler.