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“Thank God!” Rowan yelled, feeling his forces coming back. The DOT had been not only a danger in itself, but it had also slowed his reactions, spreading a burning sensation in his veins.

“Thanks, Grace, you saved our lives,” Isla panted. “Wow, that was scary. A few more seconds and we’d be dead… or undead.”

“I’m glad I didn’t kill her,” Grace said, approaching. “We would have leveled too much.”

“I would have never believed it, a week ago, but you’ve become the strongest of us,” Rowan said.

“What do you mean?” Grace rested her balled fists on her hips. “You think I should have been weaker just because I’m a woman?”

“No, but you were screaming for your life at every rat.”

“You don’t know when to shut up, don’t you,” Isla bobbed her head, staring at Rowan.

Meanwhile, the man whose life they saved waited patiently a few steps back, his umbrella closed, until someone jumped at his neck, hugging him so strongly he almost fell.

“Thank God, you’re alive!” Carla, their host, had arrived, finally.

“I am, thanks to this gentleman and the ladies,” the man bowed. Tall and elegant, he had a certain panache in his attitude. The age he projected was vague, from the late forties to the early sixties, anything was possible. The notification hit the team like a mallet a whack-a-mole.

By killing 13 Rebels, chasing away a Vampire, their ally, and saving Giovanni Lepastrina, level 30, Tour Guide, Count of Rome, you have FAILED your quest: Help the Rebels Conquer Rome. No XP or AP were awarded. No penalty was applied for going against a System-enforced treaty because conflicting promises were detected. The Treaty with the Rebels had been voided.

“I think there’s a misunderstanding,” Grace frowned. “Rebels are bad, right?”

“Sure they are,” the Italian woman said forcefully. Rowan gave her an Inspect, and she showed to be a Bodyguard, level 18.

“Our founding fathers were rebels too,” Rowan noted. “I think we helped the wrong guys.”

“But why would your Mayor write me to open the portal?” Carla said hesitantly, taking a defensive position in front of her boss.

“Because he’s a senile old fucker,” Isla snorted. “Both factions must’ve asked for help, he replied to the wrong one, after signing a contract with the others. Maybe you’ll think twice next time you delegate important stuff. So, what do we do with them?”

“Nothing,” Rowan said, putting weight in his words. “We do nothing with them. We failed the quest, and that’s that. I won’t murder people in cold blood.”

“We don’t have to murder them,” Isla shrugged. “What about you resign and go into exile, old dude?”

“For your information, I’m forty-three,” the Italian man spoke with disdain, his upper lip raised. “It’s the burden of the wisdom I carry that made my hair turn gray. And this is not about me, but the most magnificent city in the world, which the Rebels want to destroy.”

“I wouldn’t say the most magnificent,” Isla creased her nose. “That’s pretty, but Southern Colonial inspired,” she waved her hand at the villa. Are you sure this is the Rome? The pines sure look like Georgia to me.”

“What does she mean?”

“Pay her no nevermind,” Rowan said. “Miss Carla, can you open a portal for us to go back?”

“Of course.” Relief shone on the woman’s face, one showed when dangerous people let you live and leave. Extricating a shiny gem from her spatial inventory, she began mumbling some undistinguishable words when her boss whispered something in her ear, and she stopped.

“Since you’re here, and you look like reasonable people,” the man tried not to look toward Isla, “why don’t you help us instead?”

“What’s at stake?” Rowan asked. “What do you want, what do they want?”

“They want to destroy Rome, literally. History has a lot of Mana potential. By absorbing museums and ruins into the Core, they can turn them into something else. Advanced materials, guns, armor, whatever. But as long as I’m around, they can’t do it. I say history and art must be preserved. The present is built upon the past.”

“Trading us as mercenaries for advanced materials is totally what the Mayor would do,” Grace nodded.

“And Cory too,” Isla added.

“No, Cory would not,” Rowan said. “She changed the lower town into an old medieval city, she likes beautiful things.”

“The apartments she built have the kitchen separate from the living, like in the forties, or Europe. And the bathrooms are tiny and have showers, no tubs,” Isla said.

“Nevertheless, those are pretty buildings. I say to go for it. I was here with my old man and liked the city a lot.”

“What city? There are just some trees and villas.”

“Oh, just shut up,” Grace threw a sour look at Isla. “I agree. I like history and art.”

“OK, fine, count me in,” Isla shrugged.

You have accepted the Quest: Save Rome’s History.

Note: accepting a quest on another polity’s territory is considered a System-enforced contract and failure to complete the quest will be penalized in conformity with local laws: Complicity to vandalism, fines of 10,000 to 65,000 USD.

Secure 20 different historic places, clearing them from Rebels, who might try to blow them up to spite you. Deadline: next morning. For each objective saved, you will receive a free AP. One free AP and one free level have been granted for saving Giovanni Lepastrina from being turned into a Thrall.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

2/20 objectives cleared (Villa Medici, Villa Borghese) 2 free AP granted.

“Oh my God!” Grace blurted. “This is so much better than clearing the Sewers…”

“Neat! I’ll put two points between Strength and Charisma, and keep the rest for later,” Rowan said.

“I’ll put three in Strength,” Grace fondled Rowan’s cheek.

“We better start working, those fines looked big.”

“Follow me.” The Tour Guide started to walk south, then west, and then trotted after him. The pace was slower than what they could do, but at least they had someone who knew where to go with them. Five minutes later, Isla gasped in awe, catching herself on the stone railing.

“You asked where’s the town? Here’s the bloody town,” Rowan gestured.

“It’s… beautiful…” the policewoman blurted. The Belvedere was striking, one could say. Seen from the hill, the city bathed in the sweet evening’s sun, meandering graciously between a river and other hills, going on forever in waves of domes, tiled roofs, palaces, monuments, and greenery.

“Come,” their guide pressed on, after inspecting his phone. “The nearest Quest Point is in Piazza del Popolo.” Running down an alley and some stairs, they reached a square, in no time.

“Where?” Isla yelled. Indeed, all around, in every corner and on every side, there were old churches, museums, statues, fountains, and an obelisk in the center.

“I have no idea…” Lepastrina grimaced. “Could be anything.”

“I’ll ask,” Isla decided and started running toward the northern part of the square, where a church sat near a palace, and in front was a police car and a group of officers, about twenty of them.

“Hi, fellows,” she said merrily. “We’re on a quest to stop some bad Rebels. Do you know them, by any chance?”

The nearest officer moved his hand toward his holster when one of his comrades whispered something in his ear. The words Guns don’t work on them were quite clear. And They massacred two Awakened teams like bugs.

“Are you the bad guys?” Isla frowned.

“No, Miss, we’re the g-good guys,” the second officer stuttered.

“Don’t kill them, they’re normals!” Rowan shouted from the back.

“So you, of course, support the Count, and don’t plan, by any means, to blow up this beautiful… stuff around, right?”

“Of c-course.”

“Swear it. I, officer whatever, swear I’m a good guy, etcetera etcetera. Every single one of you. Now.”

A raucous choir aroused. Not the best example of coordination, but good enough.

“Keep your noses clean from now on. You’re police, for fucks sake.”

“Actually, we’re Army,” one said, but she shrugged and turned away.

10/20 objectives met. You have changed the hearts of a Rebel group of Carabinieri and made them take a pledge (reinforced by the System). You have received 8 free APs.

She briefly inspected the rest of the notifications on her way back. “OK, I see four churches, an obelisk, three fountains, and a… gate? Why does a gate count as an objective?”

“It’s almost two thousand years old,” their guide explained.

“Whatever. It’s a fucking gate. What’s next?”

“Piazza di Spagna, Fontana di Trevi, Piazza Navona, Galleria Doria Pamfilij, the Pantheon, and the Colosseum and Forum. The latter must count as three, a lot of things there.”

“Hm… they missed the Vatican,” Rowan observed.

“The Vatican is their headquarters… should I say who’s their chief? He’s the one who sent the Vampire after me.”

“For whatever reason, it makes a lot of sense. Kick his butt to Avignon, and let the French have him. They’ll have a blast together. OK, enough joking. Lead on,” Rowan said.

They started a triumphal march, going south. On their way, enemies ran, were killed or captured, with no or little fight. Groups of people joined, at first the Count’s supporters and Awakened, gathering the courage to exit cover as the situation returned in their favor, then a full crowd, a true manifestation supporting their side, which made them feel good. At nine in the evening, the quest was done. Isla had exclaimed ‘Now that’s more like it!’ after recognizing the Colosseum.

“Thank you very much!” Rome’s Count exclaimed, rubbing his hands.

“What about a portal?” Isla said. “I have to check on Thomas, he cheats on his homework.”

“Let’s have a pizza first,” Lepastrina said. “I know a good place.”

“C’mon, Isla, don’t be a killjoy,” Grace implored. “It’s not that I do not love Lizzie, but sometimes, having a little fun on our own is refreshing.”

“We had a blast here, let’s stay for dinner,” Rowan said. “And mister Giovanni is an outstanding guide. I understood more in a few hours than in the two weeks I spent here with my old man.”

“He explained to us the monuments while you ran ahead scaring people,” Grace said to Isla. “So, pizza?”

The blonde woman shrugged, capitulating. The Tour Guide showed them the way to a small restaurant, where the owner clearly knew him, as he rushed to meet them, showing the group into a back room, with a big table.

“Have you visited before?” Lepastrina asked after each one chose and ordered their pizza.

“First time,” Grace said, with Isla nodding.

“I was here once before, with my father,” Rowan said.

“Your father? You never told me about him,” Grace said

“Sure I did.”

“Only that you were adopted, and that he passed. How was he?”

“Peculiar. An eccentric. He tried his best to raise me, despite fatherhood not really being his thing. For instance, how we decided to visit Italy was weird as hell.”

“Why?”

“I was seventeen and had already dead set I didn’t want to go to college. It wasn’t worth the effort or the money, and I still think the same. I liked driving things, cars, forklifts, trucks, you name it, and it pays as good as some shit you learn in University.”

“And you pay to learn that shit too,” Isla said. “Like a lot. I got a full scholarship for being good at sports, or else I’d be in debt.”

“Yeah. So what’s the point of getting into debt when you can have fun and buy muscle cars with that money? My old man was very upset… We argued a lot. Months in a row. In the end, he said: ‘OK, but since you’re home-schooled, give me a few months of your life. Instead of college, we’ll go to visit places, I might still make a gentleman out of you.’ He failed, of course, I’m as blue-collar as it gets. So we visited Italy, a lot of cities, France, Prague—”

“What country is Prague?” Isla asked.

“It’s in the Czech Republic. That city’s fantastic too.”

“Each his tastes,” the Town Guide shrugged, albeit his eyes were judgmental.

“England, Scotland, Sweden—our ancestors' homeland—Greece, Turkey… I might forget a few. Of all the places, I liked most Italy, Prague, and London’s West End. That’s a sort of Broadway, only in En—”

“I know what it is,” Grace said.

“Then, at eighteen, I got a GED and began working and at twenty-one, I moved to Kentucky to happily work in the Bourbon industry. It’s a challenging task, let me tell you.”

“I like to drink Bourbon, not to know too much about it,” Isla patted his arm.

“It looks like your father took you on the Grand Tour,” Giovanni Lepastrina said.

“Sorry?”

“It’s a centuries-old tradition. Young noblemen took months-long trips around Europe, so they learn about culture, guided by a knowledgeable elder. It was like a rite of passage.”

Rowan pursed his lips and frowned. For the first time, he realized how much such a trip must’ve cost. “So, Mister Lepastrina. How did you become a Count?” he asked, to fill the conversation void.

“Incoming!” The restaurant’s owner had returned with their food, helped by a waitress. Large plates and two large jugs of red wines landed on the table in no time. It looked like they all were famished, as the talking paused, each taking a bite from their pizza.

“This is not pizza…” Isla said.

“Please!” Grace rolled her eyes. “Can you be polite for a change?”

“This is food for the Gods,” the policewoman continued. “I did like the Colissum, but this… this is... beyond words.”

“I’m glad you like it. About how I became Rome’s Count, it was by accident. A mini-dungeon appeared near the Villa Medici, spewing up Imps. They were level one, but hundreds of them. They started to attack everyone around, I defended myself with the umbrella and killed a few, then leveled, and smashed as many as I could, to protect my group of tourists. When every Imp was defeated, I had the most kills, claimed the Core, and since I had been granted a perk to use Artifacts due to my vast knowledge, I activated it. The Core appointed me a Count, and to my surprise, the people agreed. That’s all.”

“But without you guys, all would have been lost,” Carla said. “You can’t imagine how much he worked to better the city. All the perks: the universal translator, the portals.”

“The portals and the translator are the most valuable,” the Count nodded. “We need to keep the flow of tourists open.”

“Uhuh,” Isla grimaced, unconvinced.

“Where’s the bathroom?” Grace inquired.

“End of the corridor,” Carla gestured toward the said place. After she followed Grace with her eyes, to ensure she was on the right track, she turned her attention back to the guests. “So, what perks do you guys have in your town?”

“Err…” Rowan started, hesitating to reveal their strengths, but did not continue. A scream reached them, coming from the cloakroom’s direction. “Grace!” he yelled, dashing forward.