Heir of Aurelian

Frank sat in the lecture hall of his medieval history course. At the moment, his professor was speaking of the importance that crossbows and crossbowmen had on the high medieval battlefields. On the board was a diagram of how crossbows functioned. Which the professor prattled on about.

“Crossbows, in case you were unaware, were essentially bows that faced sideways and were mounted to a wooden stock, also known as a tiller. Early on, the bows were fastened into the tiller via a rope, but around the year 1400 AD, the Europeans invented the bow iron. Which was an iron reinforcing wedge that kept the bow in place, usually through a retaining pin.

As you can see, by the fifteenth century, the bows used on the crossbow were no longer made of wood or composite materials, instead they had shifted to steel. Up front is the stirrup which in lighter weight bows, a crossbowman would put his foot through, and use the leverage to pull the heavy bowstring back to the rolling knot which not only secured the bowstring in the firing position but also acted as a means to secure the bolt itself.

The knot was usually made of antler, horn, or bone and was reinforced with iron plates. The crossbow made use of a lever style trigger, which utilized a spring to keep it retained. Heavy crossbows in particular were forced to use alternative devices to draw the bow, such as the goat’s foot, or the windlass. These devices took time to load and were only really useful in sieges.

Crossbows were exceptionally useful at penetrating armor, so much that at one point the Pope banned them for use against Christians. However, when one is at war, necessity triumphs morality, and crossbows continued to see service among practically every Kingdom in Europe. “_.

The girl sitting next to Frank yawned as she put down her phone. She looked around the class for a few moments before noticing that the guy sitting next to her was drawing an exact diagram of the crossbow in his notebook.

It was actually really detailed, far more so than the one on the board. She figured she had some time to kill since class did not get out for another twenty-five minutes and put on a pretty smile before whispering to him in a sultry tone.

“You’re a really good artist. Maybe you can show me a thing or two after class?”

Frank merely scoffed when he heard this. He was a man who knew his priorities, and pussy could wait until the weekend. While he was in class, he did not waste his time, and because of that, he ignored the girl while continuing on his notes. This action caused the girl to mutter under her breath before turning her attention back to her phone.

“Asshole…”

Frank merely ignored the young woman’s comments. Due to the fact that she was wasting her time in class gazing at her phone, It was clear to him that she had nothing of value to offer other than her body, and he could always find someone else to fulfill that role. Thus, he did not react in the slightest and continued to take extensive notes, which only further agitated the girl.

After finishing the blueprint for the crossbow, Marcellus awoke from the dream. He had unknowingly drifted off into sleep while he was in the middle of working. However, the design of the crossbow, and its supposed armor piercing capabilities immediately filled him with interest.

He had recently developed a new way to make superior steel, and because of that, he was interested in testing out this so-called crossbow. After all, it appeared to be a vastly improved version of the arcuballista that his soldiers currently made use of.

[0)ᴠʟ He spent some time designing the crossbow and making it exactly to memory, as well as the design of the so-called springs that the trigger mechanism made use of. In the end, he had a 15th century crossbow, or a close approximation to it. The poundage of the draw weight was light enough that someone could draw it without the assistance of a device, but still heavy enough to pierce through the armor on the battlefields he would face in this world.

All in all, it was a vast improvement over the arcuballista, which was hip fired, and loaded from the belly. By the time he was finished, he set the blueprints aside for his page to collect and distribute to the leader of the nearest manufactorum. It was up to them to take this blueprint and make it into reality.

After finishing the designs for his crossbow, Marcellus set some time aside to visit his fiancee. The girl would soon be an adult, which meant their wedding was just around the corner. Because of this, he wanted to make sure she wasn’t having any second thoughts.

Thus, he set out from his study, and walked around his villa searching for the little minx.  He eventually found Placidia in the garden, playing in the fountain. Marcellus smiled when he saw this before calling out to the girl who appeared to be enjoying herself.

“I thought I would find you here. You always did enjoy my fountain!”

Placidia’s pretty face reddened up when she heard Marcellus call out to her. She was dressed only in her undergarments, and she had never shown off so much of her skin to Marcellus before. The man merely gazed upon her curiously. Her proportions were perfect, but compared to Sigefrida, who was a tall and busty Suebi woman, Placidia was much more petite and compact. Still, he had to admit she had her own beauty.

When Placidia noticed the man shamelessly staring at her, she rushed out of the fountain, and hid behind a bush as she adorned her dress. After being properly clothed, her face was still red, but she appeared to be a bit more calm as she walked past Marcellus coldly before muttering a single word beneath her breath.

“Pervert…”

Marcellus merely scoffed when he heard this before running after the girl.

“Oh, come on, Placidia, it’s not like it is something I’ll never be able to see! In a week, you and I will be married, and then I will see far more than your undergarments.”

The girl froze in her spot when she heard this. Before glaring at Marcellus with a pouting face, she stuck out her tongue like a child before running off, leaving behind a single sentence for him to hear.

“Then you will have to wait a week!”

Marcellus could only sigh as he walked back into his villa. It’s not like it was his fault that the girl decided to take a dip in his fountain in her undergarments. Still, he would not bother convincing the girl she was in the wrong. It wouldn’t do him any good. Instead, he decided to go seek out Sigefrida so she could help ease the discomfort he was feeling at this moment.

It was only a week away from Placidia’s birthday, and the weekend after the girl became of age, they would have their wedding in the city’s cathedral. It would be a grand event that Marcellus planned to use as a means of propaganda. After all, there were still those in the Western Roman Empire who called his reign illegitimate, hopefully his marriage to Placidia would change their minds.

After all, every person who thought of him as a usurper was a potential rebel and conspirator. Something he would prefer to not have to deal with. Thus, while Sigefrida was spending her days coming up with a way to catch the conspirators in a trap. Marcellus was enjoying his last days as a free man.