Ch.213213. Memorial Service

Shortly after, the Dawn Empire officially began hosting a competition known as ‘Doll Gladiatorial Combat.’

The matches held in the Colosseum, which had been renovated specifically for doll gladiatorial combat, drew enormous crowds as expected.

“WAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

“White team, win! White team, win!”

“Don’t lose to the blue team! Fight back!”

“Blue team, is this even a match?!”

“Give me my money’s worth! You sons of levitating mothers!!”

These duels unfolding before their eyes—where clay powder scattered instead of blood—became immensely popular among people of all ages in the Dawn Empire, which had been lacking in entertainment.

“….Toto? What’s this?”

“A vote for promoting doll gladiatorial combat?”

“….Oh, so this means the government will ensure we won’t lose our money?”

What made this competition particularly appealing was the introduction of officially sanctioned sports betting, helping people wager freely without fear of losing their money unfairly.

Originally, following Ben’s suggestion, they planned to set an upper limit on betting amounts, but this idea was immediately withdrawn after advice from Gracchus, who also served as a policy consultant.

“Lord Chancellor. Even with limits, gamblers will simply extend their hands to illegal betting. If the money is going to criminals anyway, wouldn’t it be better for us to collect it?”

“….Indeed, you’re right. Thank you for your excellent advice, Policy Consultant Gracchus.”

Gracchus understood the madness of humankind better than anyone. Ben, though not fully comprehending, accepted the reasoning and modified the policy.

Thus, this sports betting system called “Toto” was introduced to the Rom Empire, and doll gladiatorial combat took root as an exciting sport that anyone, regardless of age or gender, could enjoy.

In later years, it would undergo various changes, including diversification of event categories to combat monotony, marking the birth of a new sport that would share the history of the Dawn Empire.

※ ※ ※

The Dawn Empire has various anniversaries and festivals.

Starting with Victory Day commemorating the defeat of the Rom Empire’s main force, to Foundation Day, famous for its splendid celebrations of the Dawn Empire’s establishment.

There are also various holidays related to the Revenge Order, such as birth anniversaries, as well as national memorial days corresponding to South Korea’s Memorial Day.

However, foreign visitors and residents of the Dawn Empire commonly speak of one unique public holiday and festival that exists only in the Dawn Empire.

Its name is the Soul Consolation Festival.

As the name suggests—meaning to comfort and console souls—this event is a special ceremony to appease the souls of the undead specifically.

It’s for those who, after death, unfortunately became undead, with their souls either bound to their bodies or rejected by the gods, wandering the netherworld.

It’s a large-scale religious and magical ceremony where the God of Revenge personally receives some of these souls.

The undead, those who died but cannot truly die, are a race shunned because their souls are completely bound to the material world.

Of course, they can die through several methods, but the problem is that when an undead dies, even their soul transforms into an undead.

Therefore, if resurrection magic is used on the corpse of a killed undead, they resurrect not as they were in life, but in their undead state.

In reality, there have been many cases where the person meant to be resurrected became undead instead, which has been one reason for the worsening perception of the undead race.

Moreover, since undead souls cannot produce faith, no gods want to accept them into their divine territories.

As this fact became known in the material world, the undead became known as a race rejected by the gods, naturally becoming marked as entities to be avoided and opposed.

In truth… setting everything else aside, it’s difficult for a race that hates all living things to be viewed favorably.

From the beginning, so many people have been killed by the undead that this sentiment has deeply embedded itself in the minds of mortals.

However… despite this, the undead race is undeniably useful, which is why many nations train necromancers to utilize them.

Particularly in the Dawn Empire, the god also serves as the deity of vampires, a branch of the undead, and as such, vampires with intelligence live in the Dawn Empire.

Therefore, the Soul Consolation Festival held in the Dawn Empire is, precisely speaking, a kind of soul purification ceremony.

Undead who served the Dawn Empire or those who unintentionally became undead naturally die over time, and this ceremony purifies their souls so they can proceed to divine territories.

Though it sounds grandiose, it’s essentially just a national memorial day specifically for the undead.

Additionally, this festival also has the power to suppress the emergence of new undead.

Besides the original owner of a corpse becoming undead, there are various ways to become undead, a typical example being when a wandering soul enters an empty corpse.

This is not only a nuisance that defiles the soul of the corpse’s original owner, but the human casualties caused by such awakened undead are also considerable.

Ultimately, the Soul Consolation Festival is held purely for the greater good.

Anyway, this festival, led by the Revenge Order, is a very serious and solemn event, and naturally, most of the intelligent undead affiliated with the empire participate.

‘……’

Vlad von Dracula, a vampire who works as a combat magic professor at the Dawn Empire’s Magic University, was also participating in the event, dressed formally.

In truth, while it’s called a festival, apart from the ceremony held at midnight, it’s mostly just about maintaining a solemn atmosphere throughout the day.

Even that ceremony is only attended by certain officials, so for ordinary citizens, participation is limited to wearing black clothes at most.

Except for all the magical lights in the empire turning blue on this day, it’s so subtle that many people pass by without even noticing.

At the very least, vampires indirectly participate in this event, showing their faces unlike their usual habit of staying secluded at home.

Oh, it’s not that vampires avoid going out because they’re shunned in the empire….

“Ex-excuse me! M-might you be a vampire?”

“Yes. But what do you—”

“P-please bite me—”

“—Get lost.”

Roughly speaking, it’s because these strange types cling to them whenever they go out.

In fact, vampires were originally somewhat revered beings within the empire.

Not only do they have mysterious appearances and powerful strength, but the main reason is that they are beings close to the god’s retinue.

Thanks to this, a culture of revering vampires developed within the empire, but even good things get tiresome over time.

When you go out to buy ice cream and the clerk starts making religious confessions upon seeing you, it’s only natural to feel disgusted beyond weariness.

To change this atmosphere, a high-ranking female vampire wrote a novel about romance between vampires and humans….

As it happened, this became an enormous hit.

Various themes based on the lifespan difference between vampires and humans, combined with sweet and even somewhat explicit romantic elements, resulted in massive popularity, especially among women.

Thanks to this novel, vampires were now respected as individuals rather than sacred beings, but…

The problem was that strange people started to cling to any reasonably handsome vampire.

Some women overly immersed themselves in the novel and identified with the heroine, while others brazenly exposed their necks demanding to be bitten…

In severe cases, there were stalker-like fans trying to break into their homes.

Of course, the Dawn Empire is a nation of revenge.

In a society where private sanctions are not only legal but encouraged, most of these lunatics were crushed.

One vampire kicked a woman who offered her neck, shattering her leg, while others who tried to break in were butchered by the undead guarding the homes.

But even after such treatment, some still wouldn’t maintain boundaries. Vlad frowned as he recalled the woman who had just asked him to bite her.

For a high-ranking vampire, feeding is more than just a meal—it’s akin to a sexual act. Asking for it is essentially the equivalent of asking someone to have sex with you.

Naturally enraged, he pretended to let the woman go but secretly summoned five specters to torment her for a while.

Of course, Vlad also made sure to report her, determined to somehow get that woman thrown into a gulag—which isn’t particularly strange given the circumstances.