"Why are you here?"

  "You've been incredibly busy, haven't you? The insurance business, Palmolive, and on top of that, the Trademark Law."

  The woman said, holding out her hand toward the flames.

  Even with her hand in the fire, the woman only smiled.

  "Of them all, Palmolive was the most impressive. Making soap from olive oil instead of the usual hard soap—it was beyond my expectations."

  "You're not answering my question."

  I took a cautious step toward her. Although over a decade had passed, the woman looked exactly as I remembered her.

  She was the one who had appeared to me after I died in a traffic accident and introduced me to this temple.

  "Why did you have me reborn in this era? And why as Caesar’s son, of all people?"

  "Because that is what you wanted."

  "I wanted it?"

  "Yes."

  The woman nodded.

  "You wanted a family. A family you could love and respect. Caesar and Cornelia simply wanted the same thing."

  "So you had me born as Caesar’s son?"

  Silence fell.

  It was just like when we first met.

  The woman gave me no clear answer. To the most important question of all.

  "Then what is your objective?"

  "A massive storm is approaching, Lucius Julius Caesar."

  The woman stepped closer to me.

  Close enough that I could feel her breath, she continued.

  "A storm great enough to swallow not only Rome, but the entire world. You and your new family will not be safe either."

  "Who is raising such a storm? Are you talking about Crassus?"

  A massive storm. I had no idea what she meant.

  "Pompey? Cato? Or my father?"

  "Compared to the storm to come, they are nothing but weeds. This is all I can tell you."

  The woman smiled again.

  "Build your strength, Lucius. To survive when the storm comes, you will need deep roots."

  I opened my mouth to ask another question, but my surroundings began to blur.

  Not only the temple but even the woman's figure blurred.

  "The fate of the world now rests in your hands."

  At the same time, a familiar voice began to ring in my ears.

  "M...ter....Master....Young Master!"

  When I opened my eyes, I saw Felix shaking my body.

  "Young Master, are you alright?"

  "Why did you wake me up?! Why now of all times!"

  Felix flinched and backed away at my shout

  "No matter how much I shook you, you wouldn’t wake up, so I thought you’d fainted. Are you alright?"

  Looking around, I finally realized everyone was gathered in my room.

  Not only Felix, but my mother and Julia were looking at me with concern.

  "Lucius, are you alright? You're drenched in sweat."

  "Brother..."

  Julia approached my side.

  I forced a smile for them.

  "I'm fine. I just had a strange dream."

  The woman in the temple.

  Why had she suddenly appeared now, after more than a decade of silence?

  A storm that will swallow the world.

  What on earth does that mean?

  My head was so full of thoughts I could barely focus. It would be better to think about it later when I'm alone.

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  "A strange dream?"

  Mother sat down on my bed and asked,

  "You didn't receive another revelation from the Goddess, did you?"

  "Perhaps I did."

  I answered with a laugh.

  Come to think of it, couldn’t that woman be called a goddess too?

  She resurrected me in this era and even provided a temple in my dreams.

  It wouldn't be strange to call her a god.

  I laughed at the sight of their flustered faces.

  "But why were you trying to wake me up so urgently, Felix? you know I always nap today."

  "I tried not to disturb you if possible, Young Master, but..."

  Felix let out a sigh.

  "Something major has happened."

  "Something major?"

  I adjusted my posture.

  It was rare for Felix to wake me up like this.

  "Crassus has cut the price of the Palmolive distributed in Rome by half."

  "Crassus cut the price by half?"

  As Felix nodded, silence fell over the room.

  "That is certainly interesting news."

  ***

  The Senate was always crowded and loud. The advisory body founded by Rome’s first king, Romulus, had long since become the center of Roman politics.

  Although the Tribune had been created to appease the plebeians, and enacting laws was the authority of the popular assembly, the Senate was the de facto ruling body of Rome.

  And now the Senate was in turmoil over a report from Hispania.

  "Gaius Julius Caesar concocted this false report to help his son's Palmolive business!

  Are you telling me that just using Palmolive reduced the number of sick soldiers by more than half? Does this make any sense?!"

  "You are committing blasphemy right now! Was not Palmolive created by Lucius Julius Caesar after receiving a revelation from the Goddess Vesta? Since it is blessed by the Goddess, it is only natural that they do not fall ill and recover easily."

  The report Caesar sent made a simple claim. It claimed that simply using Palmolive reduced disease among the soldiers.

  The figures Caesar sent were astounding.

  All the Senators knew what this report would lead to.

  "Palmolive’s popularity is already through the roof. If the contents of this report become known..."

  "The popularity of Caesar's Palmolive will soar even higher. That is, if it can rise any higher."

  As the reputation of the Caesar family soared, the Senate split into those who resented it and those who welcomed it.

  "Caesar has a history of mingling with the Plebeians and putting forward extreme policies."

  The aristocratic faction, the Optimates, did not look kindly on the popularity of Palmolive.

  They refused any changes to the sacred order of the Republic and wanted things to remain as they were.

  By contrast, some equites and men of plebeian stock had high hopes for Caesar.

  "The Trademark Law was ultimately created to protect the interests of the Plebeians! We had to put the law forward first, rather than leave it to the assembly!"

  All eyes in the Senate turned to Cato. Was he not the very person who had argued with Lucius Caesar in the Senaculum and devoted all his efforts to blocking the Trademark Law?

  "Cato will be the first to attack Caesar."

  But contrary to their expectations, Cato remained silent.

  "What on earth are you thinking, Cato?"

  "Caesar is not a man foolish enough to send a false report."

  Cato whispered back to a fellow senator.

  Caesar was not a man one could easily believe.

  But at the very least, while serving as a magistrate, he had never falsified records or taken bribes.

  Cato knew this fact well.

  "To write a false report regarding a matter involving his own son. That would be political suicide. Caesar is not that stupid."

  "Then are we just going to wait and see? It looks like Palmolive will soon be approved as an official military supply."

  "Lucius Caesar is not the only one running the Palmolive business right now."

  Cato answered briefly.

  There were countless wolves prowling Rome besides Lucius.

  "Let them tear at each other for now."

  ***

  "Why did Crassus suddenly lower the price of Palmolive by half?"

  Felix asked as he came up beside me. We walked through the streets of Subura toward the Forum.

  "He's planning to use my father's report as a stepping stone to completely dominate the Palmolive market."

  The reason was easy to guess.

  The popularity of Palmolive was already quite high.

  Now that people believed it prevented disease, it would sell even more like hotcakes.

  Crassus was already selling Palmolive at a loss, at dirt-cheap prices.

  "But cutting the price in half again now...... he's practically throwing money away. Other producers won't even be able to compete."

  "Even with a water wheel, there is a limit to lowering the price," Felix nodded.

  "Then isn’t this actually good for us?"

  "Good for us?"

  "Didn't you intend to get paid to build water wheels for them, and then take over their businesses at a cheap price when they collapse? It seems Crassus has actually helped us."

  "Crassus drew his sword too quickly. At this rate, people may not enter the Palmolive market at all."

  And that was exactly what was happening. The businessmen who had hired us to install water wheels were now trying to cancel their contracts.

  The contracts had been drafted so carefully that they couldn’t back out immediately, but I knew they’d try.

  With panic spreading, expansion was out of the question. Even current installations were at risk of cancellation.

  "Crassus is probably trying to wipe out every competitor except me. No one can compete at that price, after all. Once the competitors are gone, he’ll raise prices again. It's a very simple strategy, isn't it?"

  It was the kind of strategy 21st-century corporations loved. Crassus would have fit right in as the CEO of a big-tech company.

  "Then what will you do now, Young Master?"

  "We need to find a way too. By cutting Palmolive’s price in half, Crassus has declared war on everyone in the market."

  Then there’s only one thing to do.

  "We will build an alliance to counter Crassus."

  "An alliance? How do you mean?"

  "What do you think is the most important thing in an alliance, Felix?"

  "Isn't it mutual trust?"

  "No."

  The most important thing in an alliance was something else entirely.

  "It is the fear of a common enemy."

  Crassus was trying to seize control of the Palmolive market. If that happened, not only I but also the countless publicani who had entered the business would suffer massive losses.

  With so much already invested, of course they’d be afraid.

  "Then what kind of alliance exactly are you talking about, Young Master?"

  "An alliance gathered under one banner. To be precise, the banner of Caesar."

  Caesar Palmolive.

  Now that the Trademark Law had passed, I can use my family's crest and name to build a massive franchise network.

  A completely new organization that Rome—no, the entire world—has never seen before.

  It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it the first true corporation.

  Caesar Franchise.

  "If people from the 21st century heard that, they’d think it was a salad franchise."

  I murmured silently.

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