1802, July 29th.
The pale yellow morning sun had yet to fully envelop the Tiber River when Denibol was the first to charge out from beside the massive stone base of the Cecilia Metella tomb.
Behind him followed 600 soldiers from the Third Dragoon Regiment of Montpellier.
It was a good 30 kilometers away from the mouth of the Trajan Canal, and Denibol thought he wouldn't reach the vicinity of Rome until this afternoon. But Lieutenant Kamas had miraculously managed to acquire three steam-powered tugboats—according to him, these things had only been introduced this year on the Tiber River, and there were only six or seven.
The steamship's speed was incredibly fast. They had arrived at the southern suburbs of Rome by twilight yesterday and had rested here for the night.
