Chapter 12

“Wilson manages to escape a desperate crisis!”

“Ohhh! Now that’s what I call a thrill!”

I had guessed as much from the outside, but stepping into the Arena, the roar of the crowd filled the massive coliseum. It wasn’t a particularly new feeling; the scene was fairly similar to a modern-day sports stadium. Of course, the difference was the raw, unrefined scent of the Middle Ages—the unpleasant stench of blood and iron. My stomach churned, and I felt a wave of nausea. Mina seemed to be feeling something similar; she looked aghast as soon as she saw the spectacle of the coliseum.

“Whoa!”

I suppose a rough place like this was too much for a sheltered noble lady like Mina. My lack of consideration was…

“This is my first time at an Arena…!”

Ah, I see. She wasn’t horrified; she was impressed. I stole a glance at Mina, and unlike my pale face, she looked remarkably excited.

‘I forgot that even a sheltered noble lady is still a person of the Middle Ages.’

This meant she was accustomed to an atmosphere drenched in blood. Then again, if you live in an environment where a guillotine sits right on the street where citizens walk every day, cutting off heads, I suppose you’d naturally turn out that way. For some reason, I felt the mental distance between Mina and me widen just a bit…

‘My stomach might be turning, but I still have to make money…’

With a sudden surge of willpower, I pinched my nose and began wandering around in search of the gamblers. The game hadn’t been kind enough to explain exactly where people placed their bets, so I had no choice but to look for myself.

“Was Granatos Grade 2?”

“No, Grade 3!”

“He already made it that far? I arrived too late.”

“Why are you disappointed? The real fun hasn’t even started yet.”

The Arena format involved starting from Grade 1 and moving up, with the last person standing being the winner.

‘Finding a gambler among this many people might be like finding a needle in a haystack.’

It was only natural, considering these people weren’t going to go around advertising their gambling. If I couldn’t find the place where the illegal bettors gathered, my dream of a sudden fortune would vanish. My resolve was starting to waver.

“Heh heh. Isn’t this the real fun, though?”

I was about to head elsewhere after overhearing the men’s conversation when a meaningful voice made me stop in my tracks. A man made a circle with his thumb and index finger and shook it—the universal gesture for money. My heightened senses immediately locked onto the men.

“Ahem… did you bet again this time? Wasn’t it just the other day you said you almost ruined your family?”

“I had some slush funds hidden away from the wife…! What about you? Did you not bet today?”

The man cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Hmph. Old habits die hard…”

“Puhaha! I knew it! If we both lose everything again, we really might get divorced!”

Bingo! There it is! My pile of cash!

“I guess that’s why we’re best friends~.”

They were clearly gambling addicts. Mina must have sensed something strange as well, because she tapped my arm. It was a sign to just keep moving. I ignored her lightly and continued to watch the men out of the corner of my eye. Were their names Hans and Thomas? Hans, the man who claimed to have hidden funds from his wife, put an arm around Thomas’s shoulder and whispered.

“Shall we say who we bet on at the same time?”

“Sure!”

“Gerold!”

“Kusante!”

Dear me, they’re both getting divorced. Either way, those bets are bound to fail. I looked the men over once and thought to myself.

‘They look rugged, but…’

Their shoulders were slumped, they looked frail, and they had an overall intimidated posture. Judging by the way they were drinking alcohol in the middle of the day, they were clearly idlers.

‘They’re easy targets.’

They seemed perfect for extracting information.

“Lady Mina, please stay here for a moment.”

“Hey, they look a bit dangerous…”

“It’s fine.”

I barely managed to pull away from Mina, who was gripping my arm and refusing to let go, and approached the two men who were snickering together. When a suspicious woman wearing a hood approached them, they stopped talking.

“A-Ahem, what business does a young lady have with us?”

One of them stuttered, his eyes darting around restlessly. They were clearly people who had done something they shouldn’t have. I spoke with confidence.

“Mister. You’re gamblers, aren’t you?”

“What—what are you talking about? You look like a young lady; are you already interested in such things?!”

“Young lady, g-gambling is a bad thing…”

They were so defensive they even tried to scold me. Even then, they lowered their voices out of awareness of their surroundings.

“I heard everything. You bet on the Sword King and the Blood Fiend respectively.”

“H-huh? I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

I lowered my voice and covered my mouth with the back of my hand.

“I happen to have some very good information. With this one tip, you could earn an astronomical amount of money today.”

“Wh-what?”

“The stakes for the match between the Sword King and the Blood Fiend have skyrocketed today, haven’t they?”

“Of course! There aren’t many days as heated as this one!”

“Hans~!”

“Oops…”

Thomas slapped Hans on the back. But the water had already been spilled. Resigning themselves to the situation, the two asked me cautiously.

“What is it you want? From the look of it, you’re not planning to report us…”

“I want to make a killing too. Tell me where it’s happening.”

“Ah, what? Is that all it was?!”

Realizing I was a fellow traveler, the two men regained their composure.

“Ahem! I can’t just tell that to anyone. This membership I have was hard to get. If I’m caught leaking it, they’ll revoke it!”

“Well, I guess I have no choice then. For the sake of public order in our society, I’ll have to report—”

“W-wait! Good grief. Let a man finish speaking!”

Hans lowered his voice and whispered into my ear.

“See that kid selling beer behind us? Tell him you want to eat buttered squid.”

Oh, that sounds delicious.

“Buttered squid… where on earth would such a ridiculous food exist? That’s the secret code. Then that kid will lead you to a secret room.”

A child who looked barely ten years old was the recruiter. I never would have imagined it. They must have been aiming for exactly that kind of cover, right?

“Thank you.”

“If you’re thankful, share that information you mentioned.”

“Bet on the people wearing the rabbit and cat masks.”

The rabbit is the protagonist, and the cat is Arianne. Since the match ends in a joint victory for the two of them, you can just bet on either one.

“Rabbit? Cat? Are there people like that?”

“I’ve given you my tip. Well then, excuse me.”

“Goodness, what a hasty temper.”

“Just leave her be. She’ll figure it out herself.”

They didn’t look like they quite believed me, but that wasn’t my problem anymore. Avoiding their suspicious gazes, I hurried on my way.

“What kind of bathroom break takes that long?”

“There were a lot of people.”

“It’s almost over if you just hold on a bit longer, yet you have no patience!”

Before long, the competition was facing the showdown with a Grade 7 Magic Beast. There were four participants left. For safety reasons, the Arena limited the monster grades to Grade 7, so the winner would be decided by this fight.

“Sigh… things are turning out strangely.”

“Indeed. Those two participants wearing the odd animal masks. They weren’t noticeable at all before, were they?”

“They seemed to be fighting normally, but to think they’ve followed along all the way to Grade 7.”

While the Sword King and the Blood Fiend took all the spotlight with their rivalry performance, the two participants in animal masks had climbed up one step at a time with heavy, steady progress. Without anyone noticing.

“Surely it won’t turn out the way that girl said?”

At Hans’s playful voice, Thomas couldn’t bring himself to laugh. The bathroom had been an excuse; Thomas had actually been on his way back from placing more bets. There are rules of a sort in the gambling den. The closing period for bets is up to Grade 4, when there are many surviving participants and the winner cannot be predicted. Once a bet is placed, there are no take-backs. Placing more bets is allowed as long as the deadline permits. Thomas had swallowed his tears and bet all the remaining money in his possession, half and half, on those two. He told himself it wasn’t because of that girl’s words, but because of a gambler’s intuition.

“But you know what? I actually placed a bet.”

At Hans’s sudden confession, Thomas’s shoulders flinched. Hans paused for a moment before adding,

“Only about 1 Copper, mind you! Haha!”

Thomas thought about telling the truth but kept his mouth shut at Hans’s words. If he said he had really bet, he would surely become a laughingstock. When he checked earlier, the stakes on the Sword King were the highest, followed by the Blood Fiend. Their winning odds were over 90%. The rest was modestly distributed among the two in animal masks. If the animal masks won as that girl predicted, he wondered how much the payout would be…

“The brief break is now over! Things are flowing in a completely different direction than expected—now, today’s final match! The hunt for the Grade 7 Magic Beast, Hamateus, begins now!”

In the midst of his sweet imagination, the announcer’s cool voice rang out.

“It’s finally starting.”

Thomas swallowed hard and looked down at the arena. The order started with the Sword King. Witnessing an incredible bite force and speed that didn’t match its size, the Sword King shouted his surrender in less than ten seconds. The Blood Fiend wasn’t much different. After barely dodging Hamateus’s charge, he judged he couldn’t do it anymore and fled outside the arena. This is a possible method of surrender because the monsters inside the arena are restrained so they cannot go beyond the boundaries.

“Tsk tsk tsk… as expected. How do those two have so little progress? As I thought, it’ll be a joint victory for those two.”

“That is, if the animal masks are both eliminated.”

“How many people in this Empire can catch a Grade 7 Magic Beast? Since they’ve made it this far, those two are also unusually skilled, but…”

“Huh?”

Even as he spoke, the match was continuing. The female participant with blue hair wearing a sharp cat mask evaded Hamateus’s charge with light movements.

“N-no. That shouldn’t be dodgeable like that, should it?”

And in an instant, she leaped above Hamateus and struck its thick back with her fist. A horrific sound of bones being crushed echoed, and Hamateus died instantly with its back shattered… Amidst the cheers of the surroundings, Hans muttered.

“Wh-why the fist when she has a sword…?”

Is the sword at her waist just a decoration? Thomas thought. Next was the golden-haired man wearing the rabbit mask. The dead carcass was cleared away, and a new Hamateus burst out from the cage. Perhaps because it smelled the blood of its kin, it was clearly in an excited state. Nevertheless, the man calmly raised his sword and waited for Hamateus to approach.

“Kyaaaaa!”

People screamed, anticipating a collision. But instead of the sound of impact, what was heard was the sound of air being sliced by a sharp blade.

Slash!

The moment Hamateus opened its mouth, the man’s sword passed through the mouth and split the Hamateus in half horizontally. The dark purple blood unique to magic beasts drenched the arena floor. In that chilling sight, the man merely put his sword back into its sheath neatly and bowed to the audience.

“Wait, those people didn’t fight that well before!”

“They must have been taking it easy…”

While Hans was bewildered, he was also admiring the overwhelming display before realizing the reality.

“Aaargh! My money!”

“Just how much is all of this?”

A joint victory for Arianne and the protagonist. Just imagining the number of Gold coins I would receive made me gulp involuntarily…!