Chapter 17
“You’re not uncomfortable anywhere, right? You didn’t forget anything?”
“I said I’m fine.”
“Do you know how important today is? Check again!”
The usual sly composure was nowhere to be seen, and Bardik was pacing around me, sweating buckets.
He looked exactly like a mother waiting for her child’s college entrance exam.
His anxious prodding was making me restless too.
I’d already checked several times that nothing was wrong, but I reluctantly did one more inspection.
A new leather guard instead of the tattered one. The black blade of the one-handed sword gleamed like a mirror, and its small size fit me perfectly.
It was a weapon made just for me.
Bardik had prepared it.
It meant I was no longer a disposable tool to be used and thrown away.
“Looks fine to me.”
“R-Really? Then that’s a relief.”
“More importantly, what about the princess?”
“She arrived ages ago and is sitting in the VIP seats. She’s just waiting for the match to start.”
The mastermind who set up this stage hadn’t even shown up. Shouldn’t she at least come and chant a victory spell or something?
‘Could she be cheering from the stands?’
No way she’d even prepared a surprise.
As expected of Rinoa.
I’ll be looking forward to it, big bro.
“Then I’ll head up as well, so do your best and make sure you win.”
Bardik gripped my shoulder one last time before letting go and leaving the waiting room.
I closed my eyes and took a steady breath.
The air against my skin was cold enough to raise goosebumps. Even my heartbeat was racing faster than usual.
It was the tension of an important match and the exhilaration of finally being free.
-Ding.
======
『Master’s Command』
A fight between gladiators backed by nobles is a matter of noble pride. Do not lose, no matter what.
Reward: Slave Skill +1
======
“Hey, ready? You’re up soon.”
“Yeah.”
“Do your best. Don’t lose to some outsider and embarrass yourself.”
-Clang.
The iron door opens.
Through the gap, the cheers begin pouring out like a flood.
‘Just one step.’
Just one step forward.
“Let’s go.”
***
The stands were more crowded than ever before.
Since both Leon and Garner are gladiators backed by nobles, there wasn’t even a spare inch of room.
It was proof that this was a rare match.
Leon lifted his head. Rinoa was looking down from her usual seat.
“Where’s the cheerleader?”
Wasn’t she supposed to be cheering in a cheerleader outfit? That was the obvious picture.
The bigger my expectations had been, the greater the disappointment that crashed down.
I turned my gaze straight ahead.
A little way off, the gladiator I’d seen last time stood holding a huge sword like a saw.
“Garner the Butcher.”
A gladiator backed by a noble.
The meaning was clear: a predator at the top of the gladiator food chain.
Leon was also a patron-backed gladiator, but fundamentally, he was different from Garner.
Garner had earned his place through skill, whereas Leon’s situation had been heavily influenced by Rinoa’s whim.
Leon also knew he wasn’t on equal footing with his opponent, so he wouldn’t allow even a shred of carelessness.
He branded that into his mind.
“You. I’ll kill you. Split your head. Crush your brain.”
Maybe there was something wrong with his speech, because Garner couldn’t form a sentence and only spat out broken words.
Even though they were about to kill each other, Leon let out a dry laugh.
“Hey. You getting paid properly? They’re not ripping you off, are they?”
“Pay. I get. Meat. Tasty.”
“You get meat as payment? That’s just the standard allowance. Don’t they pay you money?”
“Money?”
Garner tilted his head with an innocent expression that didn’t match his body. He looked like he had no idea.
Leon clicked his tongue. He genuinely felt sorry for him.
“I knew it. It’s always the same wherever you go—some halfwit gets worked for cheap. If you were paid properly, you could eat dozens of times more meat than you do now. Sigh.”
“What? More meat than now? Really?”
“You got scammed, idiot.”
“S-Scammed? Idiot? Aaaaaaah!”
Garner clutched his head and thrashed around in agony. Hazel, seated across from Rinoa, raised her voice, forgetting all about propriety.
“Garner! What the hell are you doing! Don’t listen to him!”
Then she suddenly pointed at Leon and yelled.
“You! Using mental attacks so shamelessly! If you’re a gladiator, fight fair and square!”
The war of nerves before a match is also one of the pleasures of watching sports. If you don’t like it, then train your mental fortitude too.
Leon shrugged, as if to say, so what.
“That’s enough talk between the players! Now it’s time to speak with swords, not words!”
The announcer at the upper center, holding a magic tool that resembled a megaphone, shouted.
“The pride of the young lady of Valdemar! Garner the Butcher, who has fed countless challengers to his greatsword!”
The announcer’s hand then pointed to Leon.
“And in opposition, the rising comet. He climbed this far as a slave. The rookie, Leon!”
“Waaah!”
“Hang in there, punk!”
“If you lose to some outsider, you’ll die by my hand!”
Cheers and insults burst out mixed together from the stands. But either way, they mostly meant support for Leon.
At some point, Leon had become the gladiator representing this underground arena.
“Hey, who do you think will win?”
Somewhere in the stands, one of the gathered gladiators spoke up.
“You call that a question? Obviously Garner. He’s a moron, sure, but his skill is insane.”
“Thought so. Alex, what about you?”
“…….”
“Alex?”
Alex, who had been standing with his arms crossed, spoke in a low voice.
“Darkie.”
“Are you serious? Did you get hit in the head sparring with that darkie or something?”
“Wanna make a bet?”
“Sure? Then I’m betting on Garner.”
“Me too.”
“Hanging around slaves lately must’ve fried even the great Alex’s brain.”
Alex listened to the chatter on one side with one ear and let it out the other.
After all, it was a realm that couldn’t be explained in words.
He just stared silently at the arena.
“Which gladiator will prevail! Whose judgment will prove superior! Valdemar or Edelheid! It starts now!”
-Ding! Ding! Ding!
As the bell signaling the start of the match rang, the crowd erupted.
“You. Die. You bullied me. Mocked me. Called me an idiot. I won’t forgive you.”
As if the duration of the mental attack had ended, Garner glared at Leon as though he meant to kill him.
A fierce aura roared around him, a distorted current twisted by mana that hardly needed explaining.
Leon also gripped his sword and set his stance.
“Inhale, exhale….”
The breathing technique he now used as naturally as breathing itself.
The cheers that had filled the arena as if ready to explode ebbed away like a receding tide.
The noise that had numbed his ears drifted off, and silence settled in.
His field of vision shifted along with it.
The nobles in the VIP seats, who had been showing off vivid colors, and the silhouettes in the stands, weirdly wavering, all blurred together.
All the colors drained from the background of the world.
One color stood out vividly in that monochrome world.
Garner charging forward with a huge greatsword.
The sand kicked up by his steps, the bulging muscles in his arms, even the bloodlust glistening in his eyes.
All of it came into view at a glance, like a landscape painting,
‘……Here it comes.’
The hulking man leaped into the air.
The magic stone lamp behind Garner cast a backlight, throwing a giant shadow.
A house-sized greatsword crushed the air as it fell straight down.
-Whoooosh!
A heavy slicing sound through the air.
A blatant intent to grind Leon to dust along with the sword.
Trying to stubbornly block it here would be insane. Leon abandoned defense early and leaped far back.
-BOOOOM!
Explosive Shatter (爆碎).
The ground he’d been standing on exploded just before impact. Sand shot high into the sky.
A thick cloud of dirt spread out.
-Whoosh!
Garner appeared beyond it, splitting the smoke with his greatsword.
Dust was sucked in along the sword’s path.
Leon ducked his head.
A gust brushed over his head.
He didn’t stop there. Keeping his body low, Leon slipped inside Garner’s guard.
A greatsword has the advantage of range, but that is also its weakness. Its long reach leaves a gap on the inside.
In this range, Leon, with his small build and sword, had the advantage.
He slashed at Garner’s side with his sword.
-Kreee!
Sparks flew.
In an instant, Garner twisted his waist. The sword skimmed over the iron plate layered over his leather guard.
Garner pressed down with the pommel of his greatsword, sneering.
“……!”
Leon twisted his head to the side.
The pommel brushed past the bridge of his nose. At the same time, Garner kicked Leon in the abdomen.
-Thump!
“Ugh…!”
Leon barely managed to cross his arms and block it, but he couldn’t withstand the force. He was sent sprawling backward as if thrown.
-Drip.
Blood dripped from the corner of Leon’s mouth. He’d blocked it as best he could, but the impact had come through all the same.
The pain traveling up his forearms was heavy. It felt like he’d slammed into a boulder.
Dust scattered as Garner dragged his sword along the floor and advanced.
“I’m not an idiot. You. Apologize. To me.”
“Apologize to me.”
“No. To me.”
“Apologize to me.”
“Not to me! To me!”
“Apologize to me.”
“You! I’ll kill you! Tear your flesh apart! Make you suffer!”
Garner went berserk. Mana burst out from his entire body with explosive force visible to the naked eye.
The surrounding sand whirled around him in a spiral, as if enveloping him.
Leon spat out the blood-soaked sand.
‘…So it still isn’t working.’
I’d tried to use only swordsmanship and physical ability as much as possible, but it wasn’t enough.
No matter how much experience he accumulated or how much sense he used, the gap in their underlying potential was too great to make up for with raw physical output.
His thoughts grew tangled. If it were revealed that a slave could control mana, who knew what kind of backlash would come.
But.
‘As if I care.’
If he died, there’d be no backlash or anything. Staying alive came first.
Any further hesitation was a luxury.
Leon drew in another breath.
“Die——!”
Garner charged, certain of victory. Wrapped in a whirlpool of mana, he made a reckless charge, his greatsword lifted high over his head.
Garner’s huge upper body loomed close. The greatsword fell in a broad arc.
-Thump!
Leon kicked off the ground. The moment he leaped, his field of vision shot forward.
He hurled himself toward the narrow gap outside the path traced by the greatsword.
-Shhk.
A nauseatingly smooth slicing sound ran along the blade.
Before he knew it, Leon had passed Garner and was standing behind him.
“……Huh?”
Garner’s stupid voice rang out. He turned his head toward his shoulder. Where his arm should have been, there was now only emptiness.
-Thud.
A chunk of flesh hit the floor. From the elbow all the way to the fingertips.
Garner’s right arm, still gripping the hilt of the greatsword.
A beat later, blood burst from the severed end like a fountain.
“A-Aaaaaagh! My, my arm! My arm is—!”
Leon watched Garner, who was writhing and crying on the floor like a child, with calm eyes.
“I told you. Get your pay properly. A life is too precious to waste on getting scammed, isn’t it?”