"Are you alright, Felix? You look even worse than before you went on vacation."
"I'm fine."
Felix staggered over, carrying the papyrus sheets.
The table in the meeting room was already covered with the blueprints Vitruvius had brought.
"You're not sick or anything, are you?"
"I'd rather not talk about it. It's nothing important. I'm fine."
Felix flopped down into a chair.
"Now then, let's begin."
I shrugged.
Well, if he says he's fine, he must be fine.
Did he go on some exhausting trip with his wife during his vacation or something?
Felix let out a yawn and began to speak.
"Didn't you say the three aediles approved the plan already? Then all that's left is to build the towers."
"You could say we've crossed the first hurdle. But there's something we need to do before we build the towers."
I looked at the blueprints laid out on the table.
Vitruvius had thrown himself into the semaphore tower designs as if possessed.
I heard he practically lives in his office at the technical school now.
As expected, passionate engineers were a force to be reckoned with.
"Something we need to do before construction?"
"The Metellus family was completely humiliated in this election. They'll definitely try to interfere with the tower project."
I recalled the conversation I had with Pompeia not long ago.
As she said, it was highly likely the Metellus family would try to hinder my achievements somehow.
"They'll use every means possible to stop the towers from being built. They might even argue that these towers should belong to the Senate."
"That would certainly be a headache."
"We do have the lottery precedent, after all."
I had bundled the lottery with aid for the veterans and handed it over to the Senate.
Thanks to that, I took the credit while the Senate bore the moral backlash.
And I managed to reform the way the Republic worked while I was at it.
"But I can't just hand these towers over to the Senate."
The Senate would simply see them as a slightly improved kind of beacon.
The semaphore towers had potential far beyond that.
"Then what do you intend to do? How about using flyers like you did in the last election? We strike first before Metellus can attack."
Felix said.
"If we spread word in advance that they're going to attack you, Young Master, wouldn't Metellus be forced to lie low? Retaliating over a lost election would be far too obvious."
"I didn't know you were this politically sharp, Felix."
I replied with a laugh.
Felix has certainly changed a lot compared to when we first started the insurance business.
What Felix proposed wasn't a bad idea either.
If we spread rumors all over town first, Metellus would naturally be reluctant to attack.
"It's because I have an evil employer."
Felix sighed.
"I feel like I've only learned how to do bad things."
"You learned how to survive in Rome."
I leaned forward.
Felix's proposal wasn't bad, but its limits were clear.
"If things play out that way, Metellus will probably just wait until the rumors die down. If Metellus doesn't take any action, we'll end up looking like the ones spreading false rumors."
"Then do you have a better way?"
"There is one thing I have in mind."
Just as I told Pompeia, I intended to make Metellus take their revenge on me.
Of course, the revenge they imagined was very different from the one I had in mind.
"How about a play?"
***
After the fierce magisterial and vigintisexviri elections were over, Rome returned to its daily routine.
Senators argued heatedly in the Senaculum, as usual, and magistrates went about their duties.
The consuls attended the Senate as usual, flanked by lictors bearing fasces.
Everything appeared normal.
At least to most people.
"That bastard Lucius made our entire Metellus family a laughingstock!"
Quintus Metellus said, tugging at his toga in agitation.
A cluster of senators stood around him, a visible display of his standing in the Senate.
"To distribute flyers containing such filthy lies in Rome and Ostia! What could be more despicable than that?"
The support of the Roman citizens he had gained through the bread subsidies vanished in an instant as the flyers slandering him spread.
The tribal leaders who had promised their support grew hesitant, and as supporters of Lucius kept arriving from Ostia, the Metellus family ultimately had no choice but to change their plans.
His son and nephew ran for and won posts overseeing the prisons, one rank below the offices responsible for the streets.
They chose to secure victory in a lower position rather than suffer the humiliation of losing the election.
But the fact that the Metellus family had been pushed aside by Lucius remained unchanged.
"Lucius Julius Caesar is certainly no ordinary young man. There is even a rumor that he entered the vigintisexviri race for the sake of building towers between Ostia and Rome."
Hortensius replied.
He was the man called Rome's greatest lawyer before being defeated by Cicero, and along with Metellus, he was one of the pillars leading the Optimates faction.
"Wasn't it only a campaign promise meant to win Ostian votes?"
Quintus Metellus said, breathing out sharply.
"Even Pompey and Crassus have stepped up to support Lucius. If we stop Lucius, we can stop those two as well."
"..."
Hortensius nodded instead of answering.
Pompey was a general who had amassed numerous military achievements, and Crassus had countless publicani as his clientes.
But the Senate had kept those two in check at every turn, and that was still true now.
"If Pompey and Crassus are trying to extend their influence into the Senate through the Caesars, we need to block them in advance."
Hortensius said.
There was, however, one point that seemed odd.
"I hear Lucius Caesar is coming to the Senate today to appear in person to make a report."
"What reason does that boy have to come here himself?"
Quintus asked, stepping closer to Hortensius.
"Is it related to the towers?"
"It certainly seems so. Perhaps the bond between the three of them is not yet as strong as we thought."
Hortensius replied.
It was soon time for the Senate meeting to begin.
The senators, still talking among themselves, entered the Curia Hostilia one by one.
At that moment, one man drew everyone's attention.
Lucius Julius Caesar.
He was entering the chamber alone.
As the senators murmured at the sight of the young man, the time for the meeting arrived.
***
Cicero sighed as he looked at the scene in the chamber.
Since taking charge of the newly established Lottery Commission, he had scarcely had a moment's rest.
A lottery that collects money from countless people to give prize money to a few winners.
The Senate directly operating a business that was practically gambling would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.
But the one who made that possible was Lucius Julius Caesar.
The son of the Governor of Hispania, and the young man who had succeeded in numerous businesses, including Palmolive.
He had stood before the Senate, acknowledged his mistake, and given up the lottery business.
Since the damage had already been done, he asked the Senate to take charge of it directly and support the veterans.
Cicero had taken the lead in agreeing with that argument more than anyone else.
Now that the concept of a lottery had emerged, there was no way to completely stop it.
If so, what better choice was there than for the Senate and him to use that power for beneficial purposes through reason, restraint, and order?
But the Senate was far too selfish a place.
"Using the towers I have proposed, we can ensure the safety of Ostia. If Ostia is made safe from pirates, Rome's grain supply will become secure as well, and ultimately, all Roman citizens will benefit."
Lucius Caesar said from the center of the chamber.
It was practically unprecedented for so junior a magistrate—a member of the vigintisexviri—to be granted the right to speak in the Senate.
What provoked the senators' anger was not the young Caesar's right to speak, but the content of his speech.
"It was none other than you, young Caesar, who put forward those towers as a campaign promise in this election! Yet now you come asking the Senate for money!"
"I am not asking for money. I ask only that you take the proper measures for Rome's security."
Faced with a torrent of criticism, Lucius Caesar appeared to flare with anger.
It was a marked departure from his usual calm.
"Isn't the Senate already securing enough funds through the lottery? if only a portion of that were allocated to the towers..."
"You did not bring this proposal before the Senate first. You put them forward as your own personal campaign promise."
One senator rose to his feet.
Cicero noticed that he belonged to the Metellus faction.
It was clear the Metelli were taking revenge for the defeat in this election.
"Yet now you say you need the funds of the Republic. You made grand promises to win the election, and now you would have the Senate pay the price?"
"Hear, hear!"
Quite a few senators echoed him.
"The aediles spend their personal funds every year to hold festivals and banquets for the Roman citizens. If we grant Lucius Caesar's request, shouldn't we support the other aediles as well?"
"So he keeps the profitable ventures for himself and foists the unprofitable ones onto the Senate?"
Amid the torrent of criticism, Cicero kept his mouth shut and observed the situation.
What was surprising right now wasn't just Lucius Caesar's proposal.
One of the men known to have allied himself with Lucius—Crassus—was also sitting in the chamber.
"If he got help from Crassus, he could easily build a few towers."
"Didn't Crassus help Lucius in this election as well? Has a problem arisen between the two of them?"
Most Senators naturally assumed Crassus would support Lucius.
But contrary to everyone's expectations, Crassus merely remained silent.
"If Crassus had helped him in the first place, he wouldn't have come to the Senate today to make such a request."
"I do not understand what game is being played here."
Cicero opened and closed his mouth several times.
The towers the young Caesar proposed would be of immense value to the security of Ostia and Rome.
But if he stepped forward here, he could face a concentrated attack from the Metellus faction.
Cicero was already in a situation where he had taken charge of commanding the lottery business.
If he stepped up this time as well, rumors could spread that there was some sort of relationship between him and the young Caesar.
"I'm sorry, Caesar. I wish I could help you too, but... I am simply not in a position to step forward."
Cicero muttered in a low voice.
Lucius countered the Senators' criticisms one by one.
But ultimately unable to withstand the storm of shouting, he all but fled the chamber.
"It feels refreshing to see that brat fleeing like that."
"I know, right. He's been walking around with his head held high lately as if he were some king."
"He definitely learned his lesson this time. To make such a proposal to the Senate just because he was elected to the vigintisexviri."
The Senators of the Metellus faction conversed with triumphant expressions.
"To think he'd flee without even being able to properly refute us. This is surprising."
"Even a fine horse can stumble over a rock."
Cicero could only tilt his head in confusion.
"I swear I saw Caesar smile as he was leaving the chamber."
Cicero narrowed his eyes.
"Must be my imagination."
The Senate decided not to support Lucius Caesar's tower plan.
And that decision was, at the same time, a declaration that they would not lay a finger on that business.