Chapter 14: Germania
Chapter 14: Germania
It had already been a month since I came here.
In that time, I’d experienced more than ten battles, big and small.
Small clashes along the Rhine, driving off Germanic raiding parties, ambush fights that erupted during border patrols…At first my hands shook from tension, but now my grip tightened naturally around the sword, and I could stay calm even in the middle of combat.
Comazon acknowledged my growth. “I’m proud of you. Were you born with it? You’re still a boy, but you’ve become a completely different person from when you first arrived. Your swordwork is already on par with a veteran centurion.”
“Thank you, General. It’s all thanks to you and my comrades.”
Life at the fortress was a cycle of battle and rest.
After a fierce fight, a few peaceful days would follow.
Eating with the soldiers, maintaining weapons, bathing in the Rhine…Sometimes we drank wine brought by Gallic merchants and traded jokes.
In this everyday routine, I was being reborn as a real soldier.
One evening, Comazon summoned me to the barracks.
His expression was more serious than usual.
“Varius, we got troubling information from interrogating prisoners. The Alemanni have allied with multiple tribes and are preparing a large-scale incursion.” Comazon spread out a map. “We have to find their rallying point.”
“You mean a reconnaissance mission?”
“Exactly. We have to cross the Rhine and go deep into Germania. It’s dangerous, but I want you to come with us.” His gaze was steady. “I picked only six elites. We need to move quietly. If you were the boy from a month ago, I wouldn’t take you. But the you now can do it.”
Only six… Isn’t that too dangerous? What if we get spotted?
He wasn’t wrong… I hesitated for a moment.
Going deep into enemy territory was putting your life on the line.
But I wasn’t the immature man I used to be.
And this was the kind of mission I had to be able to complete.
“I’ll go with you. But you’re coming personally too, General? Aren’t there other capable commanders?”
“If I’m going to put you—someone who’ll be used for Rome’s future—through something this dangerous, I can’t hand it off to someone else. I have to go myself. If anything happens, how could I face Julia Maesa?”
General Comazon…So this was how he climbed all the way to Praetorian Prefect.
Right before the moon set and the sun rose—when it was darkest—the reconnaissance party moved.
Seven total, including me.
Comazon, a Gallic tracker named Catus, an interpreter soldier Marcus who spoke Germanic, and three veteran centurions.
All of us removed our armor and changed into light leather clothing.
We ditched any equipment that would clang, and carried only short swords, bows, and arrows.
We smeared mud on our faces for camouflage.
The Rhine water was colder than I expected.
So this was what cold that cut to the bone felt like?
I clenched my teeth and stepped into the water.
Midstream, the current grew strong and it was hard to move, but Catus—who was ahead—threw me a rope.
Once we crossed, it was Germania.
The moment I stepped onto the damp earth…a chill ran down my spine.
A barbarian land beyond the reach of Roman law. Germania’s forest was nothing like the forests in Roman territory. Massive oaks and beech trees grew so thick they blotted out the sky. Brush and ferns rose to our ankles.
Morning fog swallowed the entire forest, and I couldn’t even see five meters ahead.
“Keep noise to a minimum,” Comazon whispered. “Germanic tribes have very sharp hearing.”
Catus took the lead and found the way.
As someone raised in Gallic forests, he was a genius at reading traces.
Broken branches, trampled grass, even animal droppings—he drew information from all of it.
“Many people passed this way recently.” Catus pointed at the ground.
“There are hoofprints too. An armed group of at least fifty.”
We moved even more carefully.
A forest completely different from Syria’s desert…My tension spiked to the extreme.
The snap of twigs, birds flapping, distant animal cries…Every sound felt threatening.
Damn… A forest itself can be this terrifying?
After wandering through the woods for about half a day, Catus suddenly raised his fist.
Stop signal.
Everyone froze in place.
“Over there…” Catus tilted his chin forward.
Fifty meters ahead, I saw three Germanic hunters.
They seemed to be chasing a deer.
Big frames, blond hair, leather clothing, long spears in hand.
Comazon gestured quietly.
We slowly slipped into the brush and hid.
A month ago, I would’ve been shaking.
But now it was different.
Repeated combat had made me calm.
My heart was pounding, but I could control my breathing…and my body instinctively found the best cover.
The Germanic hunters passed right beside us.
I could even hear their conversation.
Harsh Germanic words echoed through the forest.
Marcus listened with a tense expression.
Only after they were completely gone did everyone finally exhale.
“Well done, Varius.” Comazon whispered, satisfied. “If it were the old you, you’d have been trembling too hard to endure it.”
Comazon turned to Marcus. “What did they say?”
“They said the village is preparing for a festival. They also mentioned warriors gathering.”
“A festival…?” Comazon muttered. “Or it could be a rite… for a large-scale war.”
When the sun rose high, the reconnaissance party climbed a small hill.
From there, we spotted a village in the valley below.
A Germanic village… round wooden houses clustered together.
Thatched roofs, and in the center, a much larger building—probably the chieftain’s house or a meeting hall.
A wooden palisade surrounded the village.
“Look.” A centurion whispered.
In the central square, an astonishing number of warriors had gathered.
At least two hundred.
They were maintaining weapons, checking armor, drilling.
“The prisoner was telling the truth.” Comazon’s face hardened. “They’re preparing a large-scale invasion.”
I watched the village closely.
Beyond the warriors, the smithy was producing weapons, and the women were preparing food.
Even children held small spears and played war games.
The entire village had been mobilized for war.
As the sun began to tilt, something strange happened in the village.
Drums boomed, and all the warriors gathered in the square.
Torches ignited, painting the village in red light.
“It looks like they’re starting some kind of ritual,” Marcus said.
A figure who looked like an old priest appeared.
White beard, long robe, a strange staff in his hand.
He shouted something in Germanic, and the warriors responded.
“It’s a rite praying to Wotan (Odin) for victory.” Marcus translated quietly. “They’re swearing they’ll attack on the next full moon.”
“Next full moon…” Comazon calculated. “Ten days. We have to get back fast.”
We’d gathered enough intelligence. It was time to return.
Right then, a dog barked in the village.
Germanic hunting dogs had sensed something.
“We’ve been spotted!” Catus said urgently.
“We have to move—now!” We rushed down the hill.
Behind us, shouting and barking grew closer.
Germanic warriors had begun pursuit.
“Don’t scatter! We live only if we move together!” Comazon shouted.
Huff—huff—
We tore through the forest at full speed.
Branches whipped my face, brush scraped my legs, but I couldn’t stop.
The pursuers’ noise kept closing in.
“There—a stream!” Catus yelled. “Into the water! We can shake the dogs!”
Everyone jumped into the freezing stream.
I pushed upstream, desperate. Hoping the water would erase our scent—The pursuers’ voices halted near the stream.
The dogs barked in confusion. They’d lost the trail.
“They went this way!”
“No, that way!”
Germanic voices came from all directions.
Comazon signaled with his hand.
We kept our bodies low in the water and moved silently.
Thirty minutes felt like eternity.
Finally, the chase sounds faded.
“Keep going. We’re not safe yet.” Comazon whispered.
After running all night without rest, at dawn we finally saw the Rhine.
We were exhausted, but we couldn’t relax until we crossed.
Just as we reached the riverbank—five Germanic warriors burst out from the brush.
They looked like scouts too.
“Fight!” Comazon drew his sword.
There was no avoiding it.
Given the situation… the old me would’ve panicked out of my mind.
But experience had already changed me.
I drew my sword calmly and took a defensive stance.
A Germanic warrior charged, swinging an axe.
I blocked with my shield in a familiar motion and watched for an opening.
Combat instincts drilled into my body through real battles.
I caught the timing and drove my gladius into his flank.
The instant the melee erupted—a vicious small-number clash.
One veteran centurion was wounded, but in the end, the Roman scouts won.
I took down two enemies.
It was skill I couldn’t even compare to my first battle.
“Hurry! To the river!” At Comazon’s shout, we leapt into the water.
As we crossed, arrows flew from behind.
More Germanic warriors had arrived.
One arrow grazed my shoulder, but it wasn’t fatal.
When we reached the fortress, we were completely spent.
But the intelligence we brought back was priceless.
“In ten days, an allied Germanic force of at least three hundred will attack.” Comazon held a meeting with the fortress commanders. “We’ve identified their rallying point, so we have time to prepare.”
That night, after the commanders’ meeting, I lay in the barracks staring at the ceiling.
What I’d lived through over the last two days became another turning point.
The self who trembled in the first battle and the current self were completely different.
Countless small fights had made me into a real warrior.
“Varius.” Comazon came to see me. “What you showed today was astonishing. You’ve grown beyond comparison. Taking down two enemies while exhausted… You’re a true Roman soldier now.”
“Thank you, General. Repeating battle and rest… I think my body and mind were tempered.”
“Yes. On the battlefield, experience is the best teacher. But you grew this fast because you absorbed those experiences well.”
Outside the window, the Rhine shimmered in moonlight.
Beyond the river, in the darkness, the Germanic tribes were preparing for war.
In ten days, a truly large-scale battle would come.
But I was sure of it.
I was ready.
Through repeated experience, life and death had become concrete.
Now, I had no fear of battle.