Night agreed to help Gracchus but set three conditions with Tiberius Gracchus.
From now on, all of Tiberius's actions must be discussed with hom beforehand.
If Night disapproved of something, Tiberius was forbidden from doing it,
If he violated this agreement, Night could leave him at any time.
Under Night's scrutinizing gaze—
As if he were watching a rash youth, Tiberius felt awkward and confused but still agreed to the conditions.
Although he felt Night's gaze was somewhat impolite but couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong.
Night: "I can't let you charge straight into the Senate without any preparation like a fool."
He didn't want Tiberius's brother, another Gracchus, to come back only to find his older brother turned into a pile of mush.
After reaching an agreement with Tiberius, his first request was for Tiberius to recall his brother from the Spanish war.
When they withdrew from the Spanish front, the Senate had already dispatched Scipio Aemilianus and the younger Gracchus to stabilize the situation.
The younger Gracchus held the same position as Tiberius—Treasurer.
Instead of putting the kid in Tiberius's place to get messed around again, it was better to bring him back early to spark a red revolution together.
Night, knowing the future, was well aware of how brilliant Tiberius's brother was, especially in reform.
Compared to Tiberius, his brother was on a whole different level.
Tiberius also didn't want his brother to experience the same pitfalls he did at the front lines, so despite wondering how Night knew about his brother, he still wrote a letter urging him to return quickly.
And to eliminate any possibility of his brother refusing,
At Night's suggestion, Tiberius pretended to be gravely ill—or even near death—in the letter, making it clear his brother must come back immediately.
And so—
Tiberius gritted his teeth and wrote: "My dear brother, Gaius Sempronius Gracchus. By the time you receive this letter, I hope I'll still be alive to see you return to Rome.
Rome is about to undergo a great upheaval, and no one can remain untouched.
Forgive me, Gaius. I cannot tell you what exactly will happen.
All I can say is that someone wants to take my life, to drain my marrow, blind my eyes, and silence my voice.
They want me to see nothing, say nothing, and break my spine so I'll be forced to kneel and wail endlessly… unable to do anything.
There's no more time.
If you don't come back in time, you might find your brother turned into a sandwich cookie.
That's a food term taught to me by a friend, a funny analogy—
You can imagine me crushed into pulp under the weight of two giant rocks.
If you return too late, I hope that after I die, you will carry on my cause and never surrender.
I've left all the truth at the place we used to play as children, under that big tree.
As I write this, my eyes are already blurring, my voice can no longer be heard, only silent sobbing remains.
I know this is the pain they have inflicted upon me—!"
"They want me to be afraid, to cower, to bow my head—but a Gracchus never gives in.
Isn't that right?
My dear brother, I know that even if I didn't ask you to join, sooner or later, you'd discover the truth on your own and continue down my path.
Because that's just the kind of person you are."
At this point, Tiberius felt he had written enough, so he hastily wrapped up the letter and let out a sigh of relief.
At the same time, he also couldn't help but feel a bit guilty for deceiving his brother like this.
Although they did plan to do something big, they hadn't even started yet.
The Senate had no idea about their secret plans and still saw him and Night as rising stars in Rome, planning to nurture them.
Tiberius even added a little trick in the letter.
He made it sound as if the enemies had already started acting, trying to blind him and poison his voice.
The blurred vision?
That was from his sorrow while discussing the past with Night, mourning Carl and the others.
The inability to speak?
That was him forcefully suppressing the grief in his heart.
This was because, when he wanted to continue crying, Night shut him down with one sentence—
"What's with that look? What's with those tears? Do you think those tears will save Rome?"
What else could Tiberius say?
The only thing he could do was go even harder in guilt-tripping his brother, just to soothe the frustration left by Night's blunt words.
And with the internal resources of the Gracchus family, the letter was quickly delivered to the front lines.
Gaius Sempronius Gracchus was initially happy to receive a letter from home, but after reading it, he exploded.
Who wants to kill my brother?!
(Night: Another Gaius.)
Like the other "Gaiuses" Night was familiar with, any man with that name seemed to have a short fuse.
Even though the Gracchus brothers leaned more towards being officials, Gaius Gracchus was still a hothead through and through.
His temper wasn't reckless; it was cool and decisive.
Once he identified an enemy he was quite decisive in his approach,
With a single flow of actions, he would use his intellect to choke the enemy, striking at the heart like a ruthless tyrant ruling over everything.
A personality as aggressive as a conqueror.
This kind of temperament perfectly complements Tiberius's righteousness and decisiveness, which can sometimes be lacking.
Combined with Night's strength and support, it was quite a question just how much chaos the Gracchus brothers might stir up this time, considering that historically their reforms were carried out separately and never together.
It's a bit exciting to think about—!
Meanwhile, on the battlefield in Spain, Gaius, despite Scipio's attempts to stop him, insisted on leaving the frontlines.
Due to his noble status, no one, not even the Senate, could force him to fight if he didn't want to.
Besides, Scipio was his relative, so in the end, he just turned a blind eye and let him leave.
Gaius Sempronius Gracchus was now rushing back with all speed—!
....
....
Back in Rome, Night had already begun his next move.
This time, he targeted the soldiers who had retired from the frontlines.
No reform can succeed without the support of military power.
Otherwise, even if the Gracchus brothers of history had gained the overwhelming support of the common people and seemed poised for success, their lack of an armed force—once they were killed—meant that the progress of reform was immediately set back to zero.
To appease the public, the Senate only made some insignificant changes to the land laws, merely to pacify the masses.
In reality, the storm of reform never truly gained momentum.
Like the calm before the storm, the aristocrats of Rome still indulged in their pleasures, complacent in their security, completely oblivious to the dark clouds gathering on the horizon.
At that moment, Night found himself in a slum in Rome.
...