"Who are you??"
"What are you doing here?"
While Septimus was sitting at the bakery desk doing calculations of the monthly income, he frowned; through one of his clones he observed the father of this body, causing a commotion at the bakery displays.
"Who are you, slave? Where is Gryllus?" said Publios, Septimus's father, with an angry expression.
He was a hardened drunk who spent entire days in taverns and brothels; he came every few days to the bakery to ask for money. In recent days he had taken advantage of a widow, which is why he disappeared for days without noticing the change of staff in the bakery.
"Sir, I am the new sales manager of the bakery," replied Septimus's clone, frowning at the commotion caused by the senseless father.
Publios, somewhat irritated, replied, "I don't care, slave, call Septimus right now, I need money."
Upon hearing that statement, Septimus became a little annoyed; he barely had 2200 denarii from the sale of the three slaves plus the bakery's earnings in recent days, giving money to his senseless father would be a waste.
"The young master is coming, sir," the clone replied in a calm voice.
Septimus directed his main body toward the entrance of the bakery.
Upon seeing Septimus, Publios, already impatient, shouted, "You brat, who told you that you can buy new slaves?? Do you want me to beat you?"
Septimus became a little irritated; originally he had forgotten that he had a father in this era, but now that he was here it was time to settle new and old accounts.
The father of the previous Septimus was a hardened drinker; Septimus's mother died 3 years ago, which is why Septimus was introverted, added to the abuse he suffered from his drunken father. When he transmigrated into the body of the young man named Septimus, his drunken father, who frequented brothels and taverns, did not notice the changes in his son's personality, which is why he was unaware and had little interest in the replacement of the slaves.
Now that you are here, do not think of leaving, thought Septimus coldly.
Although Septimus resisted the idea of killing, he knew that sooner or later he would have to do it.
"Father, I have prepared 500 denarii for you, they are inside the house," said Septimus, gathering courage with a false smile.
"500 denarii?? hahaha I warn you, brat, if you deceive me I will break your arms," said Publios with a smile as he followed Septimus inside the house.
Publios did not notice that he was being followed by two clones with a cold smile and a rope in their hands.
When Septimus and Publios reached the innermost area of the house, one of the clones approached with the rope, tightly holding Publios's neck while another clone held his arms from behind.
Publios, with a face of panic, reacted instinctively and began to struggle, looking anxiously at Septimus and seeking help, only to see him with a cold smile on his face.
Septimus watched as this senseless father stopped struggling, erasing the smile that had unconsciously formed on his face.
After a few minutes, Septimus's expression became serious and cold. In his previous life he would have had moral burdens for killing a person, but in this era, with lax or nonexistent laws and with his replication ability, those moral burdens were not a problem.
"There is no good or evil, with the ability that I have it is only a matter of time to form a great family in Rome or a great empire in this era," said Septimus with determination to himself.
When night fell, a strangled corpse was discreetly thrown into the sewers of the city of Capua; in a matter of days it would swell and become unrecognizable, being buried in a mass grave by a corpse collector.
Unlike the modern era, in which it is more complicated to dispose of a corpse without having the proper means, in the city of Capua in the year 87 BC there was not much problem. The city guard would only investigate the crime at the request of the relatives or if the family was wealthy or powerful.
While Septimus cleanly solved the problem, he directed his concentration to the three clones in the ludus; he realized that, as a modern person, he had little talent in the use of bladed weapons. Fortunately, with his cloning ability it was equal to multiplying his learning by three, compensating for the deficiencies.
Septimus sighed and thought to himself, if with 30 clones in the ludus and the corresponding acceleration in experience and learning he did not manage to become a legendary gladiator, he would increase the number until achieving it.
Another week passed.
In this week, Septimus delivered two more clones to the ludus; he also discovered that he could pause the mitosis of the clones in the ludus. Originally he planned to take them and deliver them to the ludus after replication, to avoid his clones being treated as monsters if they carried out the mitosis process inside the ludus, but upon seeing that he could pause his ability, he avoided inconveniences.
Although having many clones would increase his workforce, self-preservation was his current objective. If he manages to make all his clones have the fighting skill of legendary gladiators, he could increase his current survival in this era.
Each day in this turbulent and ancient era, with little capacity to defend himself, caused great stress for Septimus.
For some people it may be fantastic to go back to the past at the end of the Roman Republic, to witness important historical events, to meet great figures, but they forget that Rome was a slave society with rampant corruption and a high crime rate.
A simple street thief could assault the bakery in search of money and kill Septimus and all the clones easily.
Setting aside that thought for the moment, Septimus had 8 clones in the bakery and 5 clones in the ludus.
Now he had to earn money; the scarce income of a bakery was barely enough to maintain basic subsistence.
He could not be very extravagant in using modern methods to earn money; Septimus was barely just a Roman citizen, if he had too much money, any noble or elite would use their influence to plunder his wealth.
Septimus thought of several modern methods that could generate money, discarding most of them, because he could not protect them from the ambitions of Roman nobles or elites.
"It seems that the only business I can currently operate without attracting too much attention and taking advantage of my clones and future knowledge is the blacksmithing," said Septimus to himself.
Septimus did not waste time, and the next day 4 of his clones went to look for a place in Capua for the blacksmithing and to buy the necessary tools.
After two days of work, Septimus set up a small blacksmith shop, spending a total of 1100 denarii; although in his previous life he was not a blacksmith, he still retained enough basic knowledge to operate the blacksmithing.
Blacksmithing is physical and technical work; Septimus assigned three of his clones to the blacksmith shop with the intention of acquiring experience and manufacturing weapons and armor for his self-defense.
While Septimus was concentrating on the blacksmithing, suddenly he frowned.
A middle-aged obese man was standing at the doors of the blacksmith shop with a friendly smile on his chubby face.
"I am the tax collector, call your master," said the fat man with a fake smile.
"The young master is on his way," replied the clone with an indifferent expression.
Twenty minutes passed, and Septimus approached with a smile.
"Sir Titus, it is an honor to have you in my humble bakery," said Septimus with a smile.
"Young Septimus, I see that you are doing well and have bought a new slave to serve as a salesman," said Titus with a cunning expression.
"Sir Titus, you misunderstand me, he is just a vagabond to whom I give work in exchange for food," said Septimus with a smile.
"You must make an effort, young man, if you manage this bakery well you can leave a legacy for your future children," said Titus with a fake smile.
Septimus nodded.
"Young Septimus, I come to collect taxes for this month, they are 20 denarii, I have also heard that you have opened a blacksmith shop?" said Titus with interest.
"It is just a rundown blacksmith shop that I have just opened," replied Septimus with indifference.
"Alright, I will only charge you 10 denarii for that blacksmith shop, and in total it would be 30 denarii," said Titus with a serious expression.
"Alright, the money will be brought to you now," replied Septimus calmly.
Although Septimus knew that he was paying double taxes, it was a normal practice in the Rome of this era.
In the more distant areas controlled by Rome, taxes are usually 10 times higher.
Seeing the tax collector walk away, Septimus began to plan the search for a small estate outside Rome to buy; with his cloning ability he had free labor to build a small fort and produce sugar in small quantities.