Chapter 22: The Ink Conspiracy

The first playbook arrived in Rome wrapped in the skin of a Nile crocodile.

Lucius knew something was wrong the moment he unrolled it. The parchment was too perfect, the diagrams too precise—every possible move FC Roma could make, predicted down to the angle of Nikias's feints and the exact second Vulso would grunt before a tackle.

The system's analysis was grim:

[Library Playbook Detected:

- Predictive Accuracy: 97.8%

- Origin: Stolen from Alexandria's ruins

- Threat Level: Football as scripted theater]

Nikias paled. "They're turning the game into a bloody equation."

By week's end, every major team in Rome had received their own playbook.

The Ostia Dockers found theirs floating in a barrel of pickled eels. The Briton Warriors*' was nailed to their training ground with a druidic curse. Even Nero got one—delivered by a fire-juggling automaton that then exploded in his lap.

The system tracked the fallout:

[Match-Fixing Wave:

- 5 referees abruptly "retired"

- 12 players altered tactics mid-game

- Nero now believes football is "a divine math problem"]

Worse—the playbooks worked.

At the next FC Roma match, the opposing team anticipated every pass, every substitution. The final whistle blew at 0-0, the first scoreless game in league history. The crowd booed.

Lucius found the opposing coach afterward, sweating over a scroll.

"Where did you get this?" he demanded.

The man pointed to a tiny symbol in the margin—an owl with a football in its talons.

The system identified it:

[Symbol:

- "Athena's Wager" (Alexandrian betting syndicate)

- Linked to:

- Decimus's recent return

- Underground ink trade

- Missing automata parts]

He appeared at dusk in the Forum, clad in a black-and-gold toga, his nose surgically straightened but his eyes still full of venom. Behind him stood twelve gladiators—undefeated champions from the eastern provinces.

"Meet *Lupa Aurea*," he announced, tossing Lucius a playbook. "My perfect team."

The system's scan was alarming:

[Lupa Aurea Analysis:

- Training: 3 months under Library tacticians

- Enhancements:

- Reflex-boosting tonics

- Subcutaneous armor (hidden under skin)

- Weakness:

- Over-reliance on predictions

- No creativity]

Nikias whispered, "They look like statues."

Vulso cracked his knuckles. "Statues break."

The acolyte's solution was insane.

"We burn the playbooks," she said, stirring a cauldron of pitch. "Literally."

Her plan:

1. Sacred Fire – Playbooks dipped in Vestal flame would reveal hidden ink.

2. False Plays – Leak fake tactics to Decimus's spies.

3. Chaos Theory– Train players to randomize decisions.

The system was skeptical:

[Success Probability:

- Step 1: 80%

- Step 2: 45% (Decimus is paranoid)

- Step 3: 10% (Nikias can't even tie his sandals randomly)]

They tried anyway.

The flames revealed the truth—the playbooks were poisoned.

Contact with sweat activated a slow-acting neurotoxin that made players follow instructions blindly.

The system's alert blared:

[Substance: "Obedience Ink"

- Origin: Alexandria's forbidden chemistry texts

- Symptoms:

- Loss of improvisation

- Increased suggestibility

- Eventual paralysis

Antidote:

- Vinegar + crushed emeralds (why?)]

Claudia gagged as she stirred the antidote. "This smells like Nero's fireproof salve."

Lucius scheduled a "friendly" against *Lupa Aurea* to test their theory.

Pre-Game Prep:

- Players chugged the emerald-vinegar mix (Nikias vomited twice).

- The Vestals sang dissonant hymns to disrupt Decimus's spies.

- The bear was positioned near Decimus's box as a "psychological deterrent."

The Match:

- First Half:Lupa Aurea moved like clockwork, scoring two perfect goals.

- Halftime: Lucius ordered FC Roma to abandon all tactics. "Do the opposite of what you'd do!"

- Second Half:

- Nikias backheeled a pass into Vulso's shin.

- Vulso sat on the ball, then threw it at the net.

- The Vestal acolyte (accidentally subbed in) scored with her lyre.

Final score: 3-2 to Lupa Aurea—but they were rattled.

Decimus stormed onto the pitch. "This isn't football!"

Lucius grinned. "It is now."

The emperor's latest masterpiece premiered that night: "The Ballad of the Beautiful Game."

It featured:

- Waterproof fire(still burning in the moat).

- Gladiators singing falsetto.

- A bear playing the lyre (poorly).

Midway through Act II, the playbooks in the audience spontaneously combusted.

The system pinpointed the cause:

[Saboteur:

- Claudia's lions (trained to hate parchment)

- Motive: Revenge for Domitia

- Nero's Reaction: Enraptured ("Art should burn!")]

The patrician cornered Lucius in the ruins of the Library of Alexandria's annex.

"You've ruined order," he hissed. "Football should be controlled."

Lucius shrugged. "Then you never understood it."

Decimus drew a dagger—just as the bear lunged from the shadows, knocking him into a shelf of obedience ink. The viscous liquid oozed over his hands.

The system's warning was poetic:

[Decimus's Fate:

- Ink Exposure: 100%

- Suggested Next Move:

- Leave him

- Let the math consume him]

Lucius walked away as Decimus began reciting equations.

Rome awoke to a new reality:

- Playbooks were banned (and burned).

- Lupa Aurea disbanded (their gladiators became bakers).

- Nero composed an anthem called "Chaos Reigns."

The system's final alert was hopeful:

[League Status:

- Predictive Corruption: Purged

- Player Creativity: Reborn

- Next Challenge:

- The bear wants a contract

- Claudia's lions need teammates

- Nero demands a "fire ballet" halftime show]

As Lucius watched FC Roma train—no playbooks, no rules, just instinct—he realized the truth.

Football wasn't meant to be predicted.