13 (57)

Their skin was smooth, with almost no visible hair. Because of that, they also looked sickly. Their shoulders were generally narrow. Not only the women, but the men as well. Since they were slaves, their clothes were old, worn gray tunics. The main goods would be the male slaves. They were goods worth putting into the arena. Sturdy physiques and trained bodies. Their skin was just as white as the women beside them, and although their shoulders were narrow, most of them were very tall.

The ones who stood out the most were not slaves, but the slave warriors who had come with him. One had an axe tattoo drawn on his chest, and the one on the right had one vicious scar each on four places: his chest, arm, thigh, and neck.

The one with scars either had a poor attitude or was being punished, because his head was bowed deeply, and both his hands were wrapped round and round in chains. A faint amount of mana flowed from his body.

On the right, Devis, who had introduced himself before Bidwell, was glaring at him with sharp eyes. He had a large nose and thick lips, and the secretary had already presented slaves. However, it was not over yet. There was one more slave trader. The man who had been waiting for a chance to speak until now wore a turban on his head, and the clothes he wore were made from material mixed with silk and were very wide. He had come from the hot south. With dark skin, he looked this way with shining eyes.

“Lord Louis. It is an honor to meet you for the first time. My name is Ishulman.”

It was a gentle tone. He was polite, and although his pronunciation was not exact, he spoke the common tongue. His eyes had a reddish tint, as people from that region usually did. His features were similar, but the decisive traits of southerners were that their skin was so dark, and that they were thin and small. The lower continent was likewise crowded with many countries.

The gifts he presented were slaves as well. The women sitting demurely wore long satin garments adorned with dangling earrings and necklaces. Their gazes poured toward him. Louis briefly welcomed him and accepted them.

Ishulman brought up several things, then opened by saying Louis was far younger than he had heard. His eyes were shining. The look of admiration was evident. Louis asked how old he had thought he was.

“Since you have fought several wars, I thought you would be at least past your mid-thirties. Besides……. No, never mind.”

He glanced at the slaves lined up behind him, then let out a short sigh, as if thinking that perhaps he had not brought goods good enough. Devis, who had been waiting for an opening to cut in, began flattering him. Louis listened a little longer, then sat down. The night had deepened just as much as their talk. Moreover, tonight was a full moon.

The round moon above was emitting light bright enough to dazzle the eyes. This was an outdoor reception room. Red carpets had been laid here and there, and trees were placed throughout, giving it a refreshing feeling. The royal guards standing at intervals were sharp and alert.

Between them, attendants entered carrying trays. Low-alcohol wine. Sweets stacked like a tower. Grapes and bananas. Crisply grilled cod and herring. Steamed pork and roast duck filled the temporary tables one after another. The slaves they had brought withdrew to the back. Only a small number of people remained in the splendid reception room. Louis said he had called them together in order to handle matters all at once. The first to arrive had been Ishulman from the south, but his face showed nothing.

“Hmm…. In any case, I need many slaves to enter the arena, whose construction will soon be completed. I assume everyone here saw it while staying here….”

“It is the greatest in history. This will certainly become popular across many countries. It is something unimaginable in the north.”

“…….It was an extremely refined style. I would call it a technology more advanced than even the Empire’s. In the Empire as well, the trend is only now beginning to rise, so related slaves are starting to be sold, but certainly, the arena you are building is the largest in scale.”

“Do they not already exist on the southern continent?”

“Not officially. Some countries do it on a religious level.”

Bidwell cut in.

“I guarantee that no one is better than me in both quantity and quality when it comes to goods procured from the north. If you will entrust the goods for the arena to me—no, please make sure to entrust them to me. Wars are frequent in the north. Slaves are overflowing.”

Devis frowned at the same time.

“You package such indiscriminate quantities quite nicely, Bidwell. Lord Louis. The slaves I supply will be provided after separate training is added in Aiwood. As you know, Aiwood has a well-established system for such things. It is on a different level from hurriedly gathering them in the chaotic north.”

“It would be troubling if you were deceived by such words. After all, there is no northerner who is not a warrior.”

Before his words even ended, they were cut off again in an instant. As if he intended to give a lesson, Devis once again began explaining Aiwood’s superior system. The atmosphere turned sharp in an instant. It was becoming an argument. There was one more cautious gaze. That person was merely listening without saying a single word.

It had not been his intention, but Louis thought the sight of these two fighting was rather amusing. He had known from the start that they did not get along. One side had strong pride, and the other was extremely boastful.

Perhaps because they were before the king, it was visible that they were quietly suppressing their anger while speaking. If he had left them alone, they might have thrown punches or grabbed each other by the collar. After Louis emptied his cup once more and ate about three grapes, one side suddenly stood up. Not to be outdone, the other side also stood. The one who was about two handspans taller opened his mouth threateningly.

“Then how about we seek the king’s permission right here and compare the superiority of the goods each of us has? The loser drinks water and goes home.”

He caught the tail of the other’s words and sneered, and the other chimed in from the front.

“For the first time, we are speaking the same language. I can clearly see you going home crying.”

At the same time, they called someone. They were the slaves each of them had brought and shown earlier. Soon, they walked out from behind the pillars. White skin with an axe tattoo and scars evenly embedded in it appeared. The other side had blond hair and a rather aged expression. Both had faint mana in their information windows. At the very least, it would be worth watching. Each took his position, and two pairs of eyes turned toward Louis as if asking for permission.

It was then.

Two quests were generated one after another. The important thing was that someone was approaching right now. The air above suddenly tore apart. What appeared was a dwarf holding a short spear. It was a vortex of considerable mana. At the very least, there was no one inside this place who could face the dwarf. He rolled his eyes and checked his surroundings.

“I shall!! Take the king’s head!!!”

Louis opened the mana throughout his entire body. His reborn body rotated mana to an unbelievable degree. The mana soon seized control of the surroundings. Twice the dwarf’s. No, three times. The thing that had been about to thrust its short spear in midair stopped smiling. Its pupils shook. It realized that something had gone wrong immediately afterward.

“O…… Oar!!! Send me back!!!”

The short spear struck uselessly beside Louis’s head. The drawn Frost Heart was driven vertically into the dwarf’s face in one stroke. Crack. The blade smashed the dwarf’s skull. At the same time, cold spread roundly from the point of contact. The creature toppled to the floor.

No, it was flung away. It flew a long distance with the force it had been charging with. From its frost-covered face, chunks of ice, flesh, and blood leaked out chaotically. It was an instant death with only a faint convulsion remaining. In the end, the blood that seeped out made a puddle. The surroundings were overwhelmed. The one who judged what had happened and shouted was Ishulman.

“Protect… protect the king!”

Along with his shout, those who broke inside were muscular giants two meters tall. Southerners. They had their upper bodies exposed as they were. Each possessed around 100 mana. They were quite useful. When they charged in, the guards, who still had not properly grasped the situation, were knocked about here and there. They went first to their master, Ishulman.

Then the sound of the intruder’s disturbance reached all the way here. Everyone’s attention gathered in that direction.

“Hmm……. He died.”

“That damn Ben. He took all the credit for himself. You favored that guy too much.”

Oar looked to the side. Mackay continued spewing complaints. He seemed to be misunderstanding something.

“The one who died was Ben.”

“………You’re joking, right?”

“No. As soon as he entered, Louis pierced his head and killed him.”

“Ben is ranked tenth! He wouldn’t die that easily…….”

“…………”

“…………”

Soldiers poured in all at once. Holding spear shafts, they charged at the fat member blocking the front. With three, four, five heavy sounds, the spear shafts pierced into the member. Just when smiles appeared on their lips at the thought that they had made him into a beehive, their faces soon changed as if they had discovered something strange.

No blood flowed. The member they were facing was 1.9 meters tall and enormously fat. They tried to pull the spears out one by one, but the shafts did not move at all, as if fixed in place. They broke into a cold sweat. When the member’s thick hand moved, they tried somehow to block him, but without being able to put up anything resembling resistance, their necks were twisted in strange directions one by one.

He smiled.

“As expected from a small country. How pathetic.”

After saying that, he turned his gaze toward the crying woman. She was the only living being here. Just as he slowly lowered his hand, perhaps intending to twist even her neck, something flashed from the side. Thwack. His neck bent grotesquely. He succeeded in deflecting the spear shaft, but his cheek swelled up. He turned his face toward the direction from which the spear had flown.

“How dare you, in a place like this!!!”

A roar. Anok had appeared. The maid recognized Anok and shouted his name, begging him to save her. Behind Anok, royal guards arrived one by one. After coldly sweeping his gaze over the surroundings, he burst into anger and charged at the fat member. Soon, he swung his rotating spear shaft and struck the man’s head. His skull should have been smashed, but he merely slid backward, and there was nothing wrong with the member.

However, he had been pushed back, if only slightly. There was no sign of a counterattack. As the member tried to move a few steps, perhaps to create distance, Anok followed after him. Just as an additional strike was about to go in, the wall beside them shattered. Amid the collapsing rubble, an unfamiliar man appeared.

“So this is where you were. I searched around for quite a while. Fight me.”

He had only one eye. However, the mana he possessed was the densest among those here. Realizing that fact, Anok was horrified.

“Get out of the royal presence while I’m still asking nicely!”

His single remaining eye twitched.

“I said, let’s play.”

“Die.”

The spear shaft flew toward his neck in an instant. A sword that rose like lightning near his neck altered the spear shaft’s trajectory. As Anok struck empty air with a bang, the man immediately dug in. In an instant, two or three exchanges passed. There were losses, but there were gains as well. A worthy opponent. He had met an enemy he had not encountered even on the battlefield in an unexpected place. It seemed the same was true for him, as the man suddenly dropped back and created distance while grinning.

“I thought there were only boring guys here, but there was a real item.”

“Damn it……. Move aside.”

“My role this time was disappointing, you know. I wonder if you can stop the checkmate? The strongest among us went to the king you serve right now.”

“What…?”

“Consider that fortunate. You are useful enough to kill two or three of our comrades, but you cannot beat Sire.”

“I said move aside!!!”

Anok closed the distance and became entangled with him. While the fierce exchange continued, the other four watched as if spectating. It was only natural that they would. In their minds, Sire failing was not even under consideration. In terms of combat power alone, Sire was evaluated as a top expert skilled enough to aim for the leader’s position.