Chapter 7
It's pitch-black.
It felt like I was submerged in a black sea where sky and earth had been mixed together, hazy enough that I couldn't even tell whether my eyes were open or closed.
Above it, my consciousness slowly floated up like a bubble.
‘…….’
My body felt so heavy it was like an iron ball had been tied to it. When I inhaled, my lungs shrank with a dull ache.
Whenever I tried to move, my nerves screamed first, ‘Don't move!’
‘…….’
That was even more irritating. If it hurt, I should just pass out. Being conscious meant I could feel every bit of the pain.
‘Looks like I blacked out after the match ended.’
I remembered beating the Minotaur. Since I couldn't remember anything after that, I must have collapsed there.
I'd pushed my body to the limit against that huge monster, so it was a huge relief that it ended with just a faint.
It wouldn't have been strange if my limbs had been crushed.
Normally, I should get up the moment I come to. If a slave overslept, they could be put to eternal sleep.
But right now, even if I wanted to get up, my body wouldn't move. So there was nothing I could do about lying here.
I should just sleep soundly and get up when I'm hungry.
Just as I was about to use the pain as an excuse and enjoy a rare bit of rest, I suddenly heard voices by my ear.
It was a voice laced with annoyance.
“When are you getting up?”
“I'm not sure. According to the doctor, there's no danger to life, so they should wake up soon, but….”
“You want me to wait in this stinking place with no end in sight?”
“Please wait a moment.”
...What?
Why do I hear Renoa's voice?
Am I hallucinating?
Wondering if I was dreaming, I couldn't suppress my confusion and cautiously opened my eyes to a slit.
My vision was blurry.
My eyelids were as heavy as lead, so I could barely make out the direction of the light. Even so, I could see her.
Renoa, sitting crookedly in a chair with her arms crossed.
Countless question marks filled my head. Then Renoa and I met eyes.
Blink. Blink.
I closed my eyes again.
“...Fuck, so this was hell.”
I thought I'd survived, but it was hell after all. I must have died along with the Minotaur.
Otherwise there was no way Renoa would be here.
That story about demons turning into the thing a person fears most in life wasn't a joke after all.
“Hell? At the very least, it'd be heaven.”
The demon in Renoa's shape immediately shot back.
What a joke. How could it be heaven when Renoa was here? Obviously it was hell.
Of all things, I'd even seen Renoa cracking jokes.
You really do live long enough to see everything.
‘No, wait. I died, didn't I?’
It felt too real, so my words kept coming out wrong.
More than that, I really had worked my ass off in a hellish place until I died, and now I was still in hell even after death.
The world was unbearably unfair.
“Aren't you getting up? You just made eye contact with me.”
“Hey, I seriously suffered until I died. If you have even a shred of conscience, let me rest a little.”
She was only scary while I was alive. What was there to fear once I was dead?
I ignored her and lay there still.
“...Interesting.”
The end of her words curved ever so slightly.
A moment later, someone came in with the unpleasant sound of rusty hinges grinding together.
And then.
-Splash!
“Hah?!”
Ice-cold water slammed into my whole body.
My breath caught in my throat, and my back straightened like it had been struck by lightning. I reflexively shot upright—and—
“Ack!”
A stab of pain pierced my whole body, and I collapsed back down. I thrashed and struggled in agony.
“W-What the hell?”
When I snapped my eyes open, I saw the demon Renoa I'd seen earlier and her escort knight.
Seeing the escort knight holding an empty bucket, it looked like he had been the one to splash water on me.
“W-What are you doing?”
“You'd better get up when you're called.”
“Isn't this hell?”
“Why do you keep looking at me and saying hell…? You're making me want to send you there.”
It's not hell?
I'm not dead?
Well, of course. Honestly, I hadn't taken damage bad enough to kill me.
Thanks to the skill's effect, my body got tougher when fighting in the arena.
‘Should I be glad about this or not?’
Even if I was alive, I was still a slave.
Still, I decided not to think negatively. If I did, the past me who had suffered myself half to death would be pitiful.
More importantly, if this wasn't hell, then what had I muttered in my half-asleep daze just now?
-Fuck, so this was hell.
-Hey, I seriously suffered until I died. If you have any conscience, let me rest a little.
“Uh.”
Like a flash, my mistakes from just a few minutes ago passed before my eyes.
I spoke informally.
I swore.
To Renoa of all people.
My brain buffered. I slowly rolled my eyes to look at Renoa.
She had her arms crossed, her head tilted, and was sending me a sharp look.
“What do you have to say?”
“Please kill me painlessly.”
“You've been saying strange things from the start. Do you want to die? After struggling that hard?”
“Weren't you going to kill me?”
I thought you were obviously asking for my last words.
“I was going to, but I decided to hold off this once. You seem a bit lacking in the head. Maybe you hurt it while fighting.”
Not only had I died and died again—no, lived and lived again—but now I was seeing Renoa spare me after cursing at her.
She wasn't the kind of person to show this much mercy.
“What brings you to a shabby place like this, young lady….”
“I watched your match with great interest. It was the first time I'd ever seen something so full of life.”
“Uh, um…. So?”
She's saying something nice to a slave?
They say if a person suddenly changes, someone dies. Of course, in this case, the one dying wouldn't be Renoa—it'd be me.
I had a bad feeling about this.
“So I was thinking of personally sponsoring you.”
“M-Me?”
“I'd like you to show me more matches like today's. For me.”
That was an unexpected bombshell.
Had I tried too hard? But if I hadn't, I'd be dead!
“I don't know which part of my match you liked, but isn't that a bit hasty?”
“Hasty?”
“There are so many gladiators in the world far better than me. They'd show you much more impressive matches. No doubt about it.”
“Are you saying my eye for people is wrong?”
Renoa narrowed her eyes. Her vertical black pupils looked like a snake's.
It was a savage gaze, as if she'd strangle my neck the moment I offended her.
That was the Renoa I remembered.
“No. I wasn't saying it with that meaning….”
“Then?”
“I know my own shortcomings best, I'd say. Even if I got sponsored, I'd die before long. It would only tarnish your reputation, young lady.”
Just standing beside Renoa meant walking a tightrope over life and death every moment.
That Renoa would become my sponsor?
To me, that only sounded like, 'If you don't meet my expectations, I'll cut your limbs off and kill you.'
I had to refuse somehow.
Without offending her.
“…….”
An uneasy silence hung in the air. Renoa said nothing.
When I cautiously lifted my head, she was still staring at me with those narrow eyes.
I couldn't read her intentions at all.
Cold sweat poured down my back.
My stomach felt like it was about to burst.
“You.”
After an eternity of silence.
“I see. You don't want me as your sponsor.”
Renoa blurted it out.
Crazy bitch.
She's insanely perceptive.
She hit the nail on the head, but I absolutely couldn't show it.
“Of course not. Who in the world would hate a sponsorship from the young lady of the Edelhyde Ducal House?”
“Tell me honestly. If you hate it, I won't do it. I don't intend to force someone who doesn't want it.”
“Really?”
“I'm lying. You do hate it.”
Fuck, it was a trap.
I was in desperate need right now.
As expected of a villainess, she was toying with human lives without a care.
And she was even laughing.
‘...She's laughing?’
Renoa is laughing?
It was real. She covered her mouth with her hand and giggled.
I wasn't the only one surprised; the escort knight beside her also widened his eyes in disbelief.
It was my first time seeing it.
Renoa smiling.
And wow, she was fucking beautiful when she smiled.
She was already very pretty, but smiling made her even prettier.
‘She's someone who could kill me with a flick of her finger, and here I am admiring her face.’
Instinct is something else.
Men really are pitiful creatures.
“You're not just a little out of your mind, are you?”
“…….”
“I rather like that. I don't care much for people who put on airs.”
“That….”
“I don't know why you're avoiding me, but I won't withdraw my decision to become your sponsor, no matter what.”
“Ah….”
“It won't be all bad. You'll get support as my sponsor. Who knows? If you live up to my expectations, I might give you your freedom.”
The moment I heard the word freedom, my eyes flew open.
“Really?”
“That depends on you.”
Then this changes things.
If I lost a match, I'd die, and even if I won, I still couldn't leave. I'd rot in the arena for the rest of my life.
In that case, it was better to take Renoa's sponsorship. Even a rope with blades embedded in it was still something I could climb.
0.000001% is better than 0%.
“Judging by your eyes, I take it you've made up your mind.”
“It doesn't seem like I have any other choice.”
Renoa didn't bother answering, as if it weren't even worth a reply.
Renoa stood up from her seat. The escort knight opened the door as if he'd been waiting.
“I sincerely hope you won't disappoint me. If you do, even for a moment—”
Before leaving, Renoa looked at me with a razor-sharp gaze.
“You'll pay dearly for it.”
With those words, she left the room.
Click-clack, her heels echoed through the hallway and then faded away.
Left alone, I blinked blankly.
“…What the hell was that?”
It felt like a storm had swept through. Even after Renoa left, I still couldn't calm down.
Even though this wasn't the modern world, it somehow felt like she'd installed CCTV in the room and was watching me.
‘If I say something weird, won't she just kick the door down and come bursting in?’
It was only after a little more time had passed since Renoa left that I could finally calm down.
‘Of all people, I never thought I'd get sponsored by Renoa.’
If this were a livestream, I'd be cheering, 'Oh, Chairwoman Renoa just sponsored me with ten million won~'
But this isn't a livestream. No, even if it were, it would still be a problem.
If some future notorious criminal donated a huge sum, I'd only wonder if they were trying to launder money.
I couldn't figure out what part of my match had impressed her.
Still, there was one silver lining.
“She's a bit different from the Renoa I know.”
The Renoa in the original story was someone who knew no flexibility. If anything crossed her, it was immediate execution.
Talking to a mere slave?
Impossible.
That was the Renoa I knew, but the one before me now had a much softer personality.
So much so that I wondered if she might not even be the same person.
“Maybe it's because she's younger?”
Judging by her first appearance, she seemed to be about five or six years younger.
That was enough time for a person to change. She wasn't a villainess yet.
‘Of course, she's still terrifying.’
Her distinctive gaze, her cold voice,
the oppressive atmosphere Renoa gave off was real. It was brutally vicious.
‘Maybe she was born that way.’
What mattered was that the younger Renoa wasn't yet a psychopath who stomped people like insects.
That was excellent news for me.
Didn't she say she'd let me go if I lived up to her expectations? Once I was free, I could run.
After that, I wouldn't care whether she became a killer or a villainess.
‘Because I won't be by her side by then.’
Repeat after me.
Buy low.
Sell high.
Even if it's just before delisting, as long as you take profits, that's all that matters.
“Then shall we collect the quest reward?”