CH 35

“…If you want to save your life, go away.”

It was a cliche line, but I know. 

It wasn’t just a simple threat.

The two robbers burst into laughter as if we were being ridiculous without knowing exactly what situation they were in.

“Look, weak brother. That’s what we should be saying.”

The bully snatched the juice from my hand.

It didn’t hurt, but reflexively I was like, ‘Ah!’ and screamed.

“No more, no less, just give us the gold coin and we’ll go away quietly. Come on…”

Whoops! 

The juice cup, that was held near his chin, fell down.

Hugo… Did you break the hand of the guy who stole the juice?

“Argh!”

“Ladies and gentlemen, you have been waiting for a long time!”

Just as the thug was screaming, a deafening fanfare broke out in the middle of the stadium.

The audience stood up and applauded the host, who was lavishly dressed like a clown.

I was lucky. It was a situation in which we may be misunderstood as gangsters.

“Thi, this!”

The other thug, whose limbs were still intact, pulled out a dagger from his waist.

It was meant to be a threat, but Hugo didn’t know about it.

Whoops! 

This time, Hugo broke his entire fist along with the dagger.

He even took out a handkerchief and shoved it into the mouth of the robber who was about to scream.

All gestures were as natural as flowing water.

“Shut your mouth. If you’re noisy, soon there will be none left even if you have five limbs.”

His sapphire eyes shone as cold as an ice pick.

“Hey! Damn it, What’s wrong with this bastard!”

The two robbers grabbed their broken arms and ran away.

Even after peace came, I couldn’t relax.

Not because of those who ran away, but because of Hugo, who was as sharp as a wild fox.

“…I used magic.”

“Ma… gic?”

Hugo put the index finger of his left hand in front of me.

Looking closely, the second finger was wrapped with a shining thread. 

As he turned his finger lightly, the thread leading in the direction where the bully had disappeared broke.

“I pretended to be engaged in a hand-to-hand battle, attached a magic force, and pulled it with another hand. It probably seems to have exerted power on them.”

Ah, for some reason, the person who was gasping just by carrying me suddenly became stronger.

“I’m sorry I broke my promise.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. There was nothing we could do…”

‘No one saw it, right??’ 

Fortunately, no one in the audience noticed even if one person almost died.

Because of the strong shouts, it was hard to hear what was being said next to them, and the scent of the lily flower quickly dissipated in the heat and sweat.

I looked around and fixed my gaze on the arena.

I found the person I was looking for right away at the stadium that had just started.

‘Benny.’

I was startled. It was an unexpected sight.

‘…Why are you so weak?!’

*** 

“Okay, the preliminary match is over! The winner of this section is……!”

The preliminary match was held by dividing the large stadium into several compartments.

The area where Benny was assigned to is right in front of our seats.

The match was a one-shot. 

“Horned peacock!” 

The cheers burst out.

The horned peacock looked around at the people and waved his hand as if it was a peacock feather on his head.

The boy gladiator I was cheering for was only fiddling with the bandages on his two hands outside the arena.

He was eliminated so quickly that he spent more time standing there than fighting.

Benny was overwhelmingly weak compared to the young gladiators of his age.

I was disappointed. 

Just because he’s the main character doesn’t mean he would be strong since he was just 12.

‘I’ll have to find another way.’

Still, I wanted to shout words of encouragement for his hard work, but it’d be a problem if Alan heard it even by accident.

I left the cheering only in my heart and slowly got up from my seat.

I had to hurry back now that Benny’s fight was over, Alan could have skipped the rest of the match and returned to the castle.

“Now is the time everyone has been waiting for! Let’s start the Loser Resurrection!”

At that time, a fanfare bigger than the starting bell caught my ankle.

Hugo gently grabbed my hand.

“Lily, the gladiators of our family will also compete before the loser resurrects. He promised to support him for you, so Father will watch until this match.”

Rather than being interested in the game itself, it seemed like he didn’t want the siblings’ secret outing to end.

I hesitated for a moment, then sat down again. 

I chose Benny as the gladiator of the family, so I’d take responsibility and watch it till the end.

Is it because this is the last chance to be freed from the shackles?

The atmosphere of the loser’s resurrection match was quite different from the preliminary match.

The slaves who mimicked chivalry suddenly became as fierce as beasts.

They poked their eyes, strangled their necks, grabbed people and smashed them all together…

Taking advantage of the absence of the referee, even the low-level fouls occurred.

‘No. Rather than that… they turned a blind eye from it.’

Even if assaults outside the rules occurred one after another, the referee looked elsewhere.

As blood splattered everywhere, the cheers grew louder.

‘The situation is not good.’

Now that this has happened, if you don’t want to fight, you had better get out of the field on your own.

However, Benny stumbled as if he was about to reach the stone that divides the ring and turned inward.

‘What’s wrong with him? Hurry up and come out!’

I was nervous. Soon after, the worrying thing happened. 

The two mean-looking gladiators exchanged glances and ran to Benny.

I had a rough idea of ​​what was going to happen. 

When a fight occurs, the majority will first try to get rid of two kinds of people by working together. 

The strongest and the weakest.

Benny was the undisputed latter. 

‘Benny, it’s dangerous!’

I covered my mouth with both hands to stop the voice that was boiling up to my throat.

My thoughts could not have reached there.

Nevertheless, Benny suddenly turned his head toward me.

I pulled the hood backwards in case he might see me.

Then the muscular gladiator wrapped his arm around Benny’s neck.

I’m going crazy. 

This is the reason I’m not allowed to go out even if I want to go out!

Another gladiator grabbed the blunt mace.

It was three seconds before Benny’s head was crushed.

The moment I got up in a hurry.

Bang! 

The bottom of the stone that hit the head cracked completely. Red blood flowed like blood vessels through the thin incontinence.

The audience was silent for a moment. Even the other gladiators stopped fighting and turned to the side of the sound.

Oh my gosh. The main character of this world, Benny…

‘Maybe Benny… is it like that?’ 

The gladiator’s head, which was swinging the mace, was crushed like a crumpled paper.

Another gladiator who had wrapped his arms around Benny’s neck staggered back.

Red blood flowed thoroughly from the clear traces of the teeth on the forearm.

Benny spit the blood out with an indifferent face.

Then, he grabbed the nape of the running man and put him on the floor as he did to his accomplice. 

Bam!

I learnt for the first time that a person could bounce like a trampoline even after hitting the stone floor.

On the surface, the mace man, who wiggled his hands and feet, was better off.

Because the second man who fell couldn’t even move at all.

Benny quietly lowered his head without boasting.

The sloppy bandages on his hands were loosened and slid gently on the floor.

Even Hugo, who had been looking at me instead of the game, focused his attention on Benny. 

The atmosphere turned upside down. 

All the gladiators surrounded the unarmed little boy.

The unspoken rule of battle. 

The strongest must be killed first.

***

“The, the victory celebration will continue!” 

The host sweated and tried to speak brightly.

I’m sure he was flustered. 

It was only noon, but they already had the winner.

At this rate, they would lose all the tickets of the audience who came to see it late.

It was too late to try to attract attention with a spectacular fire show.

The atmosphere in the audience seats had long been dropping like the neck of the host.

I sat still and remembered Rule #1 I saw at the entrance to the stadium.

「Beasts and Spirits cannot participate in the carnival gladiator match.」

A fight is the most fun thing to watch when equals fight against each other.

A fight between a lion and tiger would attract attention, but instead, they paid for a show where obviously it was a lion hunting a rabbit.

This match was just like that.

Benny knocked down all the competitors in one shot.

It was quite surprising at first, but as his winning streak continued, yawns were heard from various places as if they were bored.

What people wanted to see in the gladiator match of slaves were fierce, bloody fights.

No one even bet on Benny.

Even the fun of competing among the audience has disappeared.

The families in the audience had long left saying it was no fun, and only complaining gamblers remained in the arena.

“If they lost to a famous gladiator, I wouldn’t feel unfair. What’s wrong with that pale-looking bastard?”

“I heard that Duke Bauner sponsored him.”

“What? If it was like that, it should have been shown in advance. So I would have bet money on him!”

The gamblers around were roaring. 

This year, everyone was ruined. Except for the one person who properly hit the jackpot. 

Who is that?

‘That’s me.’ 

I felt like I wanted to get up and dance.

The main character of <No Dreams or Hopes>, that child is strong.

With Benny’s help, no matter if I am just an extra, I would be able to escape from Alan safely.

“So it was that thing.” 

Hugo, who was silent the whole time, sighed.

“What?”

“I felt the movement of mana from the stadium side earlier. I wondered if there was a Spirit gladiator who broke the rules and came in… I think it was because of that.”

Hugo pointed to the middle of the stadium. 

The nervous host brought in a half-covered beast cage.

What is it? Are you trying to shove a lion into the ring?