Chapter 55 : Chapter 55
Chapter 55. Behavior Befitting the Subject
The Gold gladiator, Larga, witnessed another world at an auction he had attended without much thought.
‘1,000,000 mana stones!’
Larga’s eyes went wide at the sight of a potion being sold for a whopping 1,000,000 mana stones.
Whoever bought it must have considerable wealth.
And naturally, they would have the power to protect that wealth, whether it was their own ability or through escorts.
Larga's reasonable inference slowly began to change as he heard information about the buyer.
“…A kid?”
“That’s what I’m saying. Someone saw a kid carrying that potion away.”
“Alone? Without any escorts?”
“It’s true.”
Larga heard the rumor about the buyer who paid 1,000,000 mana stones from a fellow gladiator who had also been at the auction.
“Where exactly is the source of this information?”
“The auction house manager who delivered the potion. Don't you have your own connections at the auction house? Go check for yourself.”
It could be a false rumor.
But for Larga, who had a history of successfully carrying out ‘jobs’ on weak, unsupported buyers, it was a rumor worth checking out.
Larga stopped in his tracks as he was leaving the market and turned his body back toward the auction house.
Protecting the buyer's anonymity was just another pretext for making more money.
It was information that could be obtained if one used their connections.
Larga went directly to the auction house announcer, with whom he had a connection, and gently coaxed him while slipping him some mana stones.
“It’s troublesome if you keep coming to me like this.”
The announcer, while saying it was troublesome, grinned, glanced around, and neatly tucked the mana stones into his tunic.
Then, he began to release information about the buyer.
“They say he’s the son of a rich merchant from the Gallion Territory.”
“A merchant?”
First of all, he wasn't a Demon.
And he had heard that the kid had come to the market alone.
If the information was correct, the probability of the job's success would increase dramatically.
It was only a little information, but it was enough to be a basis for making a move.
‘If this goes well…….’
As the corners of Larga's mouth turned up, the greed he had suppressed in his heart began to creep up.
An item worth 1,000,000 mana stones.
It was an item of such immense value that he could escape his status as a slave gladiator and start a new life right away.
‘If things don't work out, I can still live in luxury in the Arena.’
It was a chance to change his life.
After hearing from the announcer that the kid was still wandering around the market, there was no more time to hesitate.
Larga made a quick decision.
If the kid really had no escorts, and if he was just an inexperienced young master with nothing special about him.
‘I will take it.’
If the gamble had a higher chance of having no repercussions than of being dangerous, it was worth a shot.
‘I have to do the job before the kid leaves the market.’
Larga moved immediately.
He even called together a gang he had worked with before.
Larga led his gang and began to search for the kid in the market.
It didn't take long after they started searching to find the kid.
“There he is.”
“Where?”
The small-statured kid stood out among the brawny gladiators.
He didn't know whose child he was, but perhaps having lost his sense of fear, he was still wandering around alone.
Larga's gang quietly followed the kid.
All the while, they constantly checked if there were any escorts around.
The kid wandered around the street stalls, picking up and eating various candies.
Even then, seeing him pay much more mana stones than the price of the candy, it seemed his pockets were still full of mana stones.
Once he was sure there were no escorts, Larga focused on the kid.
‘I don't feel any special energy or anything….’
No matter how he looked, the kid in front of him was an ordinary, inexperienced young master.
The more he observed the kid, the more Larga's hesitation disappeared.
‘This is a big opportunity that has come after a long time.’
The hesitation born from caution was gradually replaced by ugly desire.
Just as Larga's two fists clenched, the opportunity he had been waiting for arrived.
For the kid to walk into a secluded alley on his own.
It seemed the job would be easy, thanks to the clueless child.
Larga called out to the kid who had his back turned and unleashed his gladiators.
“Hey, kid over there.”
The gladiators who instantly surrounded the area sneered at the kid.
The kid, who had been looking at the surrounding gladiators, turned his gaze, then raised a finger and pointed at himself.
“Kid? Are you calling me?”
“Is there any other kid here besides you?”
“……”
Even in this situation, no escorts revealed themselves.
Seeing the kid's brow slowly furrow, he was certain he was alone.
Larga watched the scene and leisurely took a step forward.
“You shouldn't carry around things that are beyond your station, kid.”
“Things?”
“Bation's Potion, I mean.”
“Ah. You mean this?”
The kid took the potion from his pocket and shook it.
A potion worth a whopping 1,000,000 mana stones.
As its true form was revealed before his eyes, Larga's heart was stained with greed.
The greed that filled Larga's heart made him unable to feel the strangeness in the kid's oddly relaxed attitude.
“You want this?”
He also failed to feel the change in the air that came with the potion the kid held out as he spoke.
Larga reached for the potion and opened his mouth.
“So you know the value of your life.”
“No matter where I go, there are always vermin who don't know their place.”
“What?”
The kid sighed and gestured lightly with his hand.
At that moment,
Seogeok—
The upper and lower bodies of the surrounding gladiators were separated.
He couldn't even grasp what kind of attack had been performed.
It was that instantaneous.
Only the upper bodies, sliding down from the cleanly severed torsos, suggested that it had all happened in an instant.
Ssssk—
“Wait a moment……”
Larga opened his mouth, then swallowed the blood that was rising in his throat and closed it again.
Along with his sliding upper body, Larga's gaze lowered.
No, his waist had already been severed, so his line of sight had naturally lowered.
He simply had a slightly tougher life force than the others, so his consciousness remained.
The kid's voice faintly reached Larga's remaining consciousness.
“Tch, it splattered.”
The kid, Jude, grumbled as he looked at the blood on his shoes.
Then, looking at the gladiators' corpses, he took a candy from his pocket and put it in his mouth.
As the strong sweetness stimulated his tongue, a voice came from behind him.
“Lord Jude. I have been looking for you for a long time. You've slipped away from Pommel again, I see.”
“I didn't expect the master himself to show up. Is it because of these things?”
The surroundings were a sea of blood.
Lionel, as if accustomed to such a sight, lightly waved his hand.
The corpses that had filled the narrow alley vanished with his gesture.
“Your poor taste remains the same.”
“What did I do?”
“Didn't you deliberately let them find you, Lord Jude?”
Reading the desires of others and amplifying them was Jude's specialty.
Though Jude thought of it as a small amusement under the pretext of 'knowing one's place'.
“If they knew their place, they wouldn't have been killed by me.”
“Understanding one's own position is more difficult the weaker one is. It is also necessary to give them a chance to learn their place.”
“Even without that, the quick-witted ones survive just fine on their own, don't they?”
The events at the auction house came to Jude's mind.
The human's desire as he looked at the 'Earrings of Sephiros' was immense.
The sight of the desire that had filled the human's heart dissipating in an instant as soon as Jude revealed himself was an impressive event.
‘Come to think of it… he was a guy who reacted unusually fast.’
When Jude revealed himself and amplified the human's desire, the human had escaped from the desire with bizarre speed.
Lionel's voice, which he heard by his ear, cut off Jude's thoughts.
“Let's go.”
“It’s a hassle……”
“This time, there are many gladiators who might interest you, Lord Jude.”
“These vermin?”
Jude's gaze turned to the cleanly cleared alley floor.
At the end of his gaze, the desires of the dead gladiators remained.
“There is also a human for the first time in a while.”
“A human?”
The human Jude had encountered at the auction house came to his mind.
It was unlikely there would be another human among the Gold gladiators, a race already rare to see in the Demon World.
“Yes. A human named Hyunwoo.”
“Hyunwoo, huh….”
A human gladiator whose name even Lionel knew.
Jude began to take an interest in the human, Hyunwoo.
“Let's go.”
It was a polite tone, but there was no servility in his actions.
At that sight, Jude's brow furrowed as he began to size him up.
Was this behavior befitting his station?
Lionel was the master of this Bellatus Arena.
With a position of that level, it was possible for him to show this kind of attitude toward him.
Tsk—
As Jude lightly clicked his tongue and nodded, Lionel led the way.
“I will escort you inside.”
A being named Lionel, whom he couldn't harm carelessly, nor did he fear him.
He was outside of Jude's interest.
Jude quietly followed behind him.
* * *
“Hah, I barely made it out alive.”
Hyunwoo, with a look of having aged ten years from the scare, left the market and arrived at his dormitory.
A sense of silence pervaded the dormitory upon his arrival.
Judging by the quiet, it seemed only Lucas was there.
Hyunwoo sank his body into the sofa and thought about the match he would soon participate in.
A special match held under the direction of Jude Basterion.
This special match would unfold in an environment that pushed the participants' bodies and minds to their limits.
‘The problem is that there isn't just one or two of those extreme environments.’
The worst of environments, changing at regular intervals, would drive the gladiators to their deaths.
‘In the end, it will become a battle of stamina.’
To survive and, furthermore, win this match, preparation for the environments and conservation of stamina were essential.
Hyunwoo organized his thoughts in his head.
‘I have to endure while minimizing damage in the changing environments.’
Fortunately, information about that ‘Special Match’ existed in Hyunwoo's head.
What he needed were the means to endure in each environment.
“The problem is Lucas….”
Since they were participating in the match together, if he wanted to make use of Lucas, he had to take care of him too.
Hyunwoo's gaze went to Lucas's door.
“Lucas.”
When there was no answer, Hyunwoo approached Lucas's door.
“What are you doing?”
When Hyunwoo flung the door open, he could see Lucas meditating inside.
“Come out for a bit.”
“…What is it.”
“I have something to tell you.”
Hyunwoo forcibly dragged Lucas out to the living room and made him sit in front of him.
Lucas narrowed his brow and opened his mouth.
“What is it that you have to bother me for?”
“We agreed to work together in this match, didn't we?”
“So?”
“I thought it would be good to know each other's weaknesses beforehand.”
“I have no such thing as a weakness.”
Hyunwoo chuckled at Lucas, who arrogantly lifted his chin.
“I'm sure. First, what about the fire attribute? Are you good at enduring it?”
“…Flames cannot burn my blood.”
“Ahem… I see.”
Hyunwoo began to write something on the notepad in his hand.
— Very weak to fire.
Even when Hyunwoo asked about a few more attributes, Lucas gave similar answers.
“Something like freezing cannot freeze a vampire's hot blood.”
“Electricity? If you're talking about lightning, I can even touch that with my bare hands.”
Lucas confidently answered about all attributes.
However, what was written on Hyunwoo's notepad was completely different.
‘Hmm… resistant to ice. Weak to electricity.’
Having lived with Lucas for a while, he could sense the subtle differences in his blunt tone.
Hyunwoo looked at the notepad he had written on and nodded.
‘It's just as I knew.’
He had asked just in case his memory as a developer was wrong.
Fortunately, Lucas's attribute resistances were just as he remembered.
So, it seemed he could prepare as he had originally planned.
“Okay. That's enough now.”
“Enough?”
“I’ve organized everything.”
“But what are you going to do with that information?”
“It's all useful. With this….”
“Where are you going?”
Leaving only those words, Hyunwoo looked at his notepad and went into his room.
“Why only me….”
Only Lucas, who had been waiting for an explanation of Hyunwoo's weaknesses, was left alone in the living room.