The gazes of all the nobles and merchants turned toward a young Roman noble wearing luxurious garments and bearing an expression of restrained anger.
Meanwhile, Appius had a red hand-shaped mark drawn across his chubby face.
Septimus frowned. Striking Appius in his presence meant showing him disrespect, and with a gesture of his hand, two clone guards approached the scene.
Quintus Scipio, under everyone's gaze, regretted his impulsive act and slowly calmed down.
The argument had begun because of differences during the negotiation of the price for the subcontracting of the tax revenues from a certain area.
Appius, as governor, had become confident after obtaining Septimus's support and was notably greedy while demanding bribes during the negotiations over the province's tax rights.
On the other hand, Quintus Scipio was a young noble with the arrogance of belonging to a prominent family and being the adopted son of General Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius.
Quintus Scipio attempted to subtly pressure Appius with his status in order to obtain greater benefits at a lower cost. Consequently, neither of the two could reach an agreement, and the young Quintus Scipio lost his temper and slapped Appius.
Upon seeing the two guards approach, Quintus Scipio turned around and walked toward the door with a gloomy expression.
The wisest thing was to avoid a confrontation with that madman Septimus.
At the door, four guards blocked Quintus Scipio's path and prevented him from leaving the forum.
"Septimus, have your lackeys let me leave. I am the adopted son of Metellus Caecilius," said Quintus Scipio with a gloomy expression, ignoring the clone guards and speaking directly to Septimus.
Quintus Scipio did not want to confront Septimus. The Scipio family knew perfectly well about his madness and cruelty, but Appius's greedy attitude was extremely exasperating and managed to anger him.
The crowd of nobles and merchants watched silently, unwilling to attract the attention of Septimus or Quintus.
Septimus observed the red mark on Appius's face, and with a gesture of his hand, the six clone guards sheathed their weapons and slowly approached Quintus Scipio.
Appius sighed in relief upon seeing the guards sheath their weapons. He did not wish to become the cause of a political struggle between Septimus and General Metellus Caecilius.
Gravely offending the prominent Metellus family over a trivial matter would not be profitable for Appius.
The clone guards approached Quintus Scipio and, to the surprise of the entire crowd, began beating him.
Smassss
With the sound of a dull blow striking flesh, a clone soldier threw a punch directly into Quintus's face.
The punch knocked several teeth mixed with blood out of Quintus Scipio's mouth, causing him to fall to the ground.
The clone guards surrounded Quintus and kicked him on the ground without allowing him to stand up.
Septimus had intended to mediate, but Quintus's attitude while speaking to him and using Metellus's name annoyed him a little.
An insignificant person truly dared to pressure him by using the name of another insignificant person.
The beating of Quintus at the entrance of the administrative building attracted the attention of curious people near the forum and of the personal guards of nobles and merchants who were protecting the carriages parked near the forum.
"What are you doing? How dare you beat young Quintus!"
A sudden shout from the forum attracted attention, and 6 Roman guards approached with furious expressions after seeing the clone guards beating Quintus.
The six Roman guards were Quintus's bodyguards, and their duty was to protect his safety.
The first guard leading the group was the captain and also the one who shouted angrily.
A dozen clone guards suddenly appeared and surrounded the six Roman guards.
The captain's expression changed, and he understood that the situation was complicated upon seeing the black color and the distinctive emblem on the clone guards' shields.
It was Septimus's emblem, the most distinguished and bloodthirsty general of Sulla.
"The young master is impulsive and too young. For the sake of General Metellus, I hope you will forgive him," said the Roman captain with a serious and respectful expression.
The scene remained silent, and the merchants and nobles kept their eyes lowered, not daring to look at Quintus's miserable state and provoke an unnecessary conflict.
The people present knew that Quintus would not be able to seek revenge against Septimus, but he could vent his anger against ordinary nobles and merchants.
People with wealth and status who survive long enough also understand how bloody a political struggle between two great important figures in Rome can be.
Meanwhile, the Roman captain received no response from the clone soldiers, and the silent crowd prevented him from seeing Septimus seated on a chair with two young girls in each arm.
The clone guards continued kicking Quintus on the ground without stopping or showing mercy.
The Roman captain's patience ran out upon seeing Quintus's miserable condition, and his hand unconsciously moved toward the hilt of his short sword.
The clone guards surrounding the six Roman guards unsheathed their short swords without hesitation and raised their shields in unison into an attack position.
The sudden action of the clone guards alarmed the Roman captain and everyone present.
With calm expressions and slow steps, the clone guards slowly approached the six Roman guards with the intention of attacking.
The Roman captain and his guards began sweating without understanding why the development of the situation had worsened so drastically in less than a minute.
In an instant, the first clone guard confronted a Roman guard and used his short sword to stab him in the neck without hesitation.
The death of the Roman guard and the blood pouring from his cut throat terrified and shocked the merchants and nobles who were glancing sideways at the scene.
With the first Roman guard dead, the clone soldiers easily killed the group of unprepared and shocked Roman guards.
In less than five minutes, the Roman captain was kneeling with an expression of pain. The clone guards did not kill him, but they easily beat and disarmed him.
"You are all insane!... I am a guard of the Metellus family!" shouted the Roman captain with a furious expression mixed with fear.
The Roman captain's shouts were answered with a powerful kick to the face. The clone soldiers gathered around the Roman captain and beat him with indifferent expressions.
The crowd of nobles and merchants remained silent, not daring to look at Septimus or at the scene of the clone guards beating Quintus and his captain of the guard.
Appius observed the scene with frustration without daring to stop the clone guards.
The clone guards obeyed Septimus, and few people dared to oppose him, and Appius was not among those few people.
After 15 minutes, Septimus grew bored with the silent and tense atmosphere of the hall and, while embracing the two sisters, proceeded to leave the administrative building.
The clone guards also stopped their actions and left the unconscious Roman captain and Quintus lying on the ground.
The life or death of Quintus and the Roman captain was uncertain.
Septimus left the forum of Utica with his carriage.
Meanwhile, the nobles and merchants in the hall, upon seeing Septimus's departure, also silently left the forum of Utica without daring to look back.
Appius observed with slight frustration the two unconscious people on the ground and the five corpses, and ordered the slaves to clean the area and transfer Quintus and the Roman captain to the residence of the best physician in the city.
He was the governor of the city and could not quietly withdraw as the nobles and merchants had done.