episode_0038

Like a silk robe covering his whole body, a man tightly grasped the terrace fence and leaned forward.

At the end of his gaze was Lian, a boy with murmuring white hair.

“Haah, haaa -… so… so beautiful!”

The voice flowing through the robe was bold and heavy. Odugyi, who had his waist half-bent and hands clasped like a butterfly behind him, swallowed dry saliva and spoke in a hoarse voice.

“It was a stage specially prepared for Mr. Totojen. How was it?”

“Ah – it was really… a truly magnificent stage.”

The excited voice was whimpering as if drunk. Odugyi vigorously rubbed his hands and seemed to be smiling unpleasantly. Then Totojen, known as the Dark Merchant, took out a hefty money pouch from inside the robe and threw it.

“Ah – thank you! I will continue to prepare good stages in the future!”

Odugyi blinked and bowed deeply, then cautiously pocketed the money pouch.

“Well, have a good time -”

“Just a moment.”

Before Odugyi could finish speaking, Totojen raised one hand to interrupt him.

“The ones with the white hair.”

“Yes, yes.”

“I’ll buy them.”

“Yes…?”

“How much would it cost?”

Slaves with exceptional looks and skills are rare.

Every time they step onto the stage, numerous giants who claim to be their fans come looking for them. Of course, these giants do not come to watch the matches without any purpose.

Many come to use the ‘star’ slaves as playthings for a night.

Those who buy a gladiator slave for a night often force all kinds of cruel acts or use them for terrible experiments.

Sometimes gladiator slaves die, but in that case, they can receive an amount greater than what the gladiator slave earns in a lifetime.

If Toto-gen wants that, there’s nothing we can’t provide, but purchasing is a different story.

‘When I think about the amount they’ll bring in the future…’

Is there really only one person who buys a gladiator slave for a night? If someone sells a night to giants like Toto-gen every day, they will surely become overflowing with money.

When you consider all of that, it really became an amount that would make a “click!” sound. No matter how much money Toto-gen has, this amount would surely be burdensome.

“That -… It seems difficult to sell the two white-haired slaves that Lady Jisoo brought specially. Haha…”

“Hmm… In that case, how about buying a night?”

“..! That’s possible! However, if you handle them too harshly due to their weak bodies from being young slaves, they might break. In that case -..”

“In that case, I’ll compensate for everything, so make a reservation for a year from now on.”

“…..!!”

To monopolize a slave with star quality for a whole year was like saying he would spend money not like water, but like a waterfall.

As Ottugi roughly tapped the calculator, his eyes trembled aimlessly, and then a broad smile spread across his face.

“Then I’ll do that! Which slave are you interested in?”

“Can I see and choose directly?”

“Of course!”

Ottugi nodded quickly. Toto-gen, who had somewhat calmed down his excitement, left the terrace overlooking the arena and headed to the spacious living room connected to the terrace.

As he sat on the sofa, his personal attendant and secretary served him. Ottugi took a step back and said,

“If you need anything, please call me anytime! I’ll come running.”

Without a response from Toto-gen, the servant handed him the tea. Ottugi hurriedly left the room.

“Quickly, appoint the white-haired guy who just fought in the match and his younger brother as leaders!”

“Yes!”

As Ottugi’s excited orders were given, those who were waiting quickly ran off.

***

After giving Iris a lot of snacks, I held hands with Iris, who didn’t want to let go, and returned to the room.

Swoosh!

As soon as I opened the door, something flew towards me. It was the sword I had thrown on the bed.

“Show your blood – Aaagh!”

In an instant, the sword flying towards my stomach got caught by Iris’s handle.

“T-take this away -”

The sword struggled, making a dying sound.

Thud!

I knocked the sword Iris was holding onto the floor.

“Ah…”

The sword rolled pitifully on the ground. Iris turned her face towards me and pointed at the sword with her fingertip.

Having been together all day, I could understand Iris’s intention to break the sword.

“Sneer! You insolent creature of the god! I am the great sword Gargantua! How dare you show such disrespect to me -!”

Ignoring the sword’s grumbling, I said to Iris, “You must not break that sword. Understand?”

“So… you mean to break me?”

“Uh…”

My words startled the sword, and Iris looked sullen. The sword rolled towards me, stood up near my foot, and the handle and the side of the sword touched my calf.

“Hey, contractor. You’re not really going to break me, are you?”

“When was I ever a contractor?”

“W-well! Of course, it’s from the moment you grabbed and ruthlessly swung me!”

The sword clung to me, not wanting to disappear, whimpering like a person grabbing onto their last hope.

Crack!

The moment the sword acknowledged me as its contractor, a strange pattern was engraved on the back of my hand. The dark red pattern looked like something a middle school student obsessed with chuunibyou would carve.

Even if you try to resist, it’s useless! The two of us are in a contractual relationship. The pattern engraved on the back of my hand is the evidence… I must take good care of myself, the contractor!

Like a mouse placed in front of a cat, every time Iris’s gaze reached, the dark aura moved slightly and hid behind my ankle.

“Now playing around… how touching.”

Iris, with narrowed eyes, seemed to be following the dark aura attached to my body, like a cat following a puppy’s movements.

It was heartwarming to see Iris, who had been sitting blankly, now responding to something else.

“Stop it now, or you might cut my ankle.”

Although the blade was only touching the skin to prevent injury, if the dark aura kept moving, there was a risk of getting hurt.

“How difficult it is to put away.”

As handling blood was not difficult, I raised the hilt of the dark aura. As Iris’s intense gaze turned towards the dark aura, it began to drip sweat like cold sweat.

“Grr…! When you need me, just say ‘Gargantua’ in your mind! Got it?!”

“Huh? O-Okay.”

Nodding urgently at the dark aura’s tone, it transformed into light and entered my backhand. The pattern flashed ominously before calming down.

“Oh, convenient, isn’t it?”

As I stroked my backhand, about to silently call out Gargantua’s name…

Clang!

The door suddenly opened, and a familiar rat-man entered. After checking our faces, the rat-man stepped aside. Behind him stood about ten people, dressed in tight-fitting clothes and wearing turbans, their faces covered with thin cloth.

“Our important guest has summoned you, so prepare them properly.”

“Yes!”

They pushed in and lifted both Iris and me as if handling laundry, carrying us off somewhere.

Iris never left my side, so she was just staring at the back of my hand without much reaction.

“A summons for an important guest?”

I couldn’t figure out what was going on and looked around. Before I knew it, they had arrived at a place they had never seen before.

It was clearly a place that looked like a bathhouse.

“After washing up, get dressed properly. Wear the finest clothes!”

As the command of the rat person came down, Iris and I knelt to the ground. I realized that we were going to be washed up carefully.

“Don’t rebel here.”

I recalled the story I heard when I went to have a snack earlier about the “iron collar.”

“It was said that all sorts of magic were cast to easily handle rebellious slaves.”

There were spells that not only caused electric shocks but also made one feel as if their whole body was being cut by a knife. It would be a loss for just the two of us if we rebelled here for no reason.

“Iris, we can meet again soon, so behave yourself. Got it?”

Since I couldn’t hold hands with Iris and wash together, I quietly whispered to her while the people who covered their entire bodies prepared to wash them.

Then Iris looked at my hand and my face alternately, and soon lowered her head with a sullen face. The hand that had been moving meticulously slowly dropped.

“Hurry up and move!”

Just in time, the rat person’s urging voice was heard. The worry about being washed together due to the setting of being siblings was overshadowed, and Iris and I were each dragged into different rooms.

Listening to the casual conversations, it seemed that the preparation process was different for men and women.

In an instant, clothes were taken off and they were thrown into a fragrant bath. It didn’t take long for the embarrassment of having their clothes taken off in front of others to fade away.

“Huh…?”

Someone wrapped my hair, and someone else washed my body. I thought as I floated quietly in the warm bath.

“It feels somewhat like the therapy course I went to with my mother, doesn’t it?”

I was floating in the water like a happy sea otter. Somehow, the touch that washed me became even gentler.