Suddenly, Rainer frowned and examined him with concerned.
"Woah! You're so pale and sweaty!"
He exclaimed, placing a palm on his forehead.
"You should take better care of your health, Kotys! The medicine in this era is fit for beasts!"
Kotys, astounded that he had been so lost in his head as to not realize he had almost walked into Rainer, took a step back and shook his head.
"I am well, Rainer. Do not bother with me."
"Mm-Mmm." Rainer hummed with doubt in his eyes. However, his eyes soon shifted to Hoplite and he smiled.
"Hey there, Hops! You goo—" He suddenly paused, glancing at a swollen red mark on his face.
His face pinched awkwardly.
"...Unless you lost at slap man to a carpenter, you shouldn't have that nasty print on your face."
Hoplite quickly looked down, hiding his face and handing the sack to him. Rainer instinctively took it. However, that would prove to be a mistake as Hoplite swiftly turned and ran back to camp.
"..."
"..."
Changing the topic Kotys pointed at the head-sized stones arranged in a straight line.
"What were you doing?"
At that, Rainer grinned and turned away.
"Zig-zag sprints, ever heard of football? Meh, you probably haven't."
He waved dismissively.
"I was familiarizing myself with this body. It's just so nice to finally move like a normal human being!"
Kotys seemed curious.
"What did you look like before coming here?"
Rainer glanced back at him with a mysterious light in his eyes.
"Fire." He whispered and the torches back at camp momentarily brightened.
Kotys frowned at this, however, before he could voice his concerns, he heard a beast's roar...or at least what he thought was one.
*Gruuull~*
Rainer caressed his empty stomach and quickly searched the sack.
"What's this? Bread? Oh! There are olives too. Nice!"
Kotys reached for his waist and unhooked the wineskin.
Rainer's eyes brightened.
"Water?! Wonderful! I'm so thirsty!"
Kotys reached for a waterskin behind his waist and brought it out as well.
"That's wine. I had it stored away after the last skirmish with rebel tribes. It was my loot. Though I never liked wine. If you need water you can have mine too."
Rainer froze and turned slowly to look at him with adoration.
Kotys frowned slightly at his weird expression and took a step back.
However, Rainer didn't say anything. He merely looked away and nodded to himself with a pleased smile. He then opened the wineskin and swung it up, taking several big gulps.
"Baah! Good stuff!"
Kotys eased up, seeing that he liked it.
Rainer chuckled to himself.
"Thanks for this! Didn't know you were quite the charmer."
Smiling, he kept away the food and reached for the spear.
"Are you allowed to give me that now?"
Kotys sighed and handed Rainer the spear.
"I have been given permission, but I will hold onto my shield."
Rainer tilted his head slightly at that but shrugged.
"Fair enough."
Rainer took the spear and turned away, his attention fully taken by the weapon.
He placed a palm on the shaft and slowly brushed it across the surface. Kotys bent to the side with a curious gaze, trying to see what Rainer was doing.
He discovered that there was something—intimate in the manner he handled the weapon. The way he held it within his hand and how the tip caught the moonlight, gleaming a soft blue as if in response to his touch.
Kotys soon felt an odd pang of envy and this puzzled him.
"W-what are you doing? Blessing my spear?"
"Hm?" Rainer glanced back at him like he was crazy. "What? No! Blessings are for gods—and that, I am not."
Kotys blinked back in recollection.
"Right, you are an Ergon..." He sagely nodded to Rainer's discontent at his mispronunciation.
But then his expression morphed to confusion.
"Does that mean you are not the son of Mars, then?"
Rainer paused at the question, and then he looked away with a thoughtfully distant expression.
"I once had a friend..."
He began with a sad light gleaming in his eyes.
"The legends say he was birthed by Mars, the one you know as the god of war... One day, when I was soaking wet and cold, when I had nowhere else to go... He accepted me into his household, and called me—a wanderer, his brother."
He glanced at Kotys with a soft smile.
"His name was Remus, and I loved him more than his twin brother ever could."
Kotys remained silent, but thoughtful... Though still confused.
Sighing, Rainer turned around and raised the spear to the sky. It's tip glinting like a beacon against the night.
"What do you think is the greatest weapon, Kotys? The sword or the spear?"
For a moment, Koty's eyes searched as he puzzled over the question. But then he decided.
"The mind."
He curtly answered, and Rainer looked back at him with an intrigued light in his eyes.
"We are tools of war." He elaborated. "It is the sharpness of our mind that dictate how well we perform in everyday battle."
Rainer brought the spear down and turned with a smile.
"You and I are so—similar, yet different. Then again, I guess a Roman soldier would think this way; that bare pragmatism, the adaptive vigor towards warfare..."
Kotys scoffed with a faint wry smile.
"What do you know of Rome?"
Rainer slowly began twirling the spear about in his hands as he backwardly walked away with a thoughtful look on his face.
"I have been transmigrated to a few Roman civilizations before this..."
Kotys had a perplexed frown, finding it difficult to comprehend this.
However, before he could ask a question. The spear fell from Rainer's hand, bouncing against the ground.
Rainer picked it up with a lethargic sigh.
"I'm out of my depth." He muttered and glanced at Kotys.
Recognizing what was troubling him, he decided to elaborate, resting on the spear.
"You see, up there in the sky exists many worlds near-identical to this one, each varying slightly. Those worlds each have their own versions of the Roman civilization, and I have arrived at different eras in their comparable histories."
Kotys' mouth fell open, stupefied at this revelation.
Rainer glanced at him and smirked.
"Remarkable, eh? Yeah, so it would seem... I have made many memories with Rome. But it was never worth it in the end—for you see, Rome was always fated to fall...much like me."
Rainer suddenly shook his head, deciding to stop his sad rambling. Then he stood up straight.
"Your spear is too heavy and stiff for me. I need something lighter, a tad longer and more flexible."
Kotys seemed disappointed at the sudden change of topic, but he nodded, turned and walked back.
"Alright. I will be back."
Watching him go, Rainer suddenly yawned and laid down, resting his head on a nicely shaped rock.
Looking up at the stars, a memory suddenly echoed in his mind.
"He is a god."
Rainer scoffed softly to himself.
'Ah, Hops... I've played that game before—I don't think that routes for me in this life.'
Rainer then bit his lips in thought and sighed.
'Well, who knows... Maybe if they ask nicely, I might just play that role for the Roman Empire.'
His eyes wandered across the stars for a moment, aspiring, and then he closed them.