Ch.74The City of Blood. Fernheim (1)

It had already been seven days since we received a crash course on the ‘production process’ of mythril and orichalcon.

Our food supplies were gradually running low, which was because neither I nor Raisha had anticipated Simon’s joining us.

Of course, Simon carried his own provisions, but since we couldn’t have imagined traveling beyond Shahelm to Fernheim at the time, the hardtack and jerky he had brought along had long since disappeared into our stomachs.

Fortunately, we had packed plenty of food to begin with, so we had enough not to skip meals, but there was no avoiding the fact that the absolute amount of food allocated to each person was decreasing.

“Damn it. How can I be hungry already when we just had lunch…”

“Can’t be helped. We agreed to keep lunches as simple as possible…”

“We should have purchased food supplies in the villages we passed through…”

Along with failing to properly predict the rate at which our food would diminish, this disaster occurred because we had hesitated to buy food in the villages we’d visited, reasoning that ‘it’s too expensive here.’

“I feel rather sorry… This old man should have taken it into account properly… I got too excited about embarking on an adventure at this age…”

“You don’t need to apologize. In any case, we won’t starve.”

“I’m grateful if you say so, this old man is thankful.”

Simon became humble whenever the topic of food came up.

It wasn’t intentional, but he felt guilty that an old man like him was taking food from growing youngsters.

Moreover, being a sage by profession yet failing to predict something as simple as diminishing food supplies must have intensified his self-reproach.

As we were waiting endlessly for dinner time, a very familiar and simultaneously chilling scent wafted from the distance.

“This smell…”

“Yes… no doubt about it.”

“The smell of blood. It’s a sign that we’re approaching Fernheim.”

With Simon’s additional explanation, we continued to ride our horses.

After riding for three days and nights straight until our spotted horse collapsed foaming at the mouth from exhaustion, we finally reached the red walls of Fernheim.

*

“Fernheim…”

I couldn’t take my eyes off the massive walls that stood over 100 meters tall and their vivid red color. At the (relatively) small gate below, people were coming and going like the ebb and flow of tides.

“Do you know why Fernheim’s walls are so red?”

“Is it because they mixed blood into them?”

“That’s right. It’s a specialty of Fernheim. Bricks mixed with blood and blessed by Karil gain resistance to magic, making them one of the materials all lords desire.”

“Blessed, huh…”

I swallowed my words as I lined up at the entrance, and soon numerous people fell in line behind us.

We gradually moved toward the entrance, and when there were fewer than five people left in front of us, we all instinctively pulled out our adventurer certificates.

Soon our turn came, and the gate guard silently glanced over the certificates we held out before nodding to signal our passage.

And finally, we entered Fernheim.

The City of Blood.

Birthplace of Karil.

Home of the Colosseum.

Paradise for fighters.

Fernheim.

I had arrived.

We had arrived.

*

Fernheim was a city similar in size to Parsifal.

It’s just that Faerus Vale is exceptionally large. Considering that Parsifal is by no means a small city, one could roughly estimate the size of Fernheim.

“By the way… the appearance of the passersby is nothing short of brutal…”

“Even the street vendors are equipped with armor and weapons.”

Following Raisha’s comment, I spotted a street vendor grilling takoyaki while wearing full plate armor and carrying a two-handed mace on his back.

Is this… the City of Blood?

I carefully surveyed the streets and could see that most people walking around were armed, at least lightly.

The only unarmed individuals were very young children or priests; everyone else, regardless of the effectiveness of their armament, carried at least a dagger at their waist.

“It would be wise to watch your words and actions here. In the City of Blood, people won’t hesitate to draw blood.”

At Simon’s advice, Raisha and I nodded.

We could instinctively understand that if a knife fight broke out on this street, it certainly wouldn’t end with just one or two deaths.

“First, we should replenish our depleted food supplies. Look, there’s a market over there, let’s head that way.”

I nodded and turned my horse toward the market.

Except for the fact that everyone was menacingly armed, Fernheim’s market wasn’t much different from those in other cities, and the public safety actually seemed better.

Whether it’s because Parsifal is a mess, or because this is a city where people worry more about getting stabbed than slapped, I couldn’t tell.

Upon reaching the market, we could see numerous stalls arranged in an orderly fashion.

I took out two gold coins from my spatial storage and distributed them to Simon and Raisha, which was for implanting spatial storage for them as well.

“Go and buy inscription-type spatial storage worth one gold coin each. Tool-type storage is cumbersome to carry around. And after the inscription is complete, let’s meet under the city’s clock tower.”

“Yes, Viktor-nim.”

“Ho ho, this feels like receiving pocket money.”

Raisha and Simon took the money and left, while I went around the market replenishing various consumables and food supplies that had been used up.

Although prices were high because it was a city, I simply had a lot of money, so I didn’t particularly care.

“Ah, premium tea leaves. I should buy these too.”

Whether I was lucky or they were just commonly sold, I was able to acquire premium tea leaves once again, and soon my brief shopping was complete.

I rode my horse toward the clock tower in the city square, and in the distance, I could see Raisha and Simon approaching.

*

“All done?”

“Yes. It was a bit embarrassing to show my bare skin to a strange man, but…”

Raisha blushed as she adjusted her clothes over her chest.

It wasn’t anything unusual. Generally, women have their breasts in the heart area, so the inscription had to be divided in half, making it more complicated and increasing the procedure time.

“What about you?”

“Mine finished quickly. I don’t have breasts like a woman, after all.”

As Simon joked like that, Raisha’s face turned red as she moved closer to me.

How cute.

“Anyway, since you’re here, resupplying is complete, so what’s next?”

“First, we need to gather information about competing in the Colosseum, but as you can see, there isn’t just one or two Colosseums here.”

“Ah…”

We could see more than five Colosseums just within our view.

We needed to decide which Colosseum to enter, but as complete outsiders, we literally had no information.

“So we need to gather some information. Let me ask you, are you going to participate in the Colosseum too?”

At my question, Simon crossed his arms and pondered for a moment.

Even though you’ll revive if you die, it’s still a real death initially.

People whine all day when they get a paper cut on their finger, so actually dying in battle and then coming back to life would be an incredibly… ‘intense’ experience.

“Well, alright. I’ll participate too.”

And then he made his decision.

For typical mages, the experience of fighting one-on-one without escorts was very rare.

“Although I don’t know many destructive spells…”

He said, grinning.

“I do know spells that really piss people off.”

He burst into hearty laughter, and I smiled as I rode toward the nearest Colosseum.

Now three warriors would fight in the arena, and only death or victory would allow us to escape that cage.

*

“Yes, you’re registered.”

“When does it start?”

“The competition begins three days from now at 10 AM.”

We completed our registration at the nearest Colosseum and entered one of the inns closest to it.

Behind the inn was a large training ground, and there we trained together, observing each other’s martial skills.

Raisha and I taught each other how to counter spears with swords and swords with spears, while Simon and we exchanged techniques on how to kill spellcasters and battlers, building up our know-how.

And when the time finally came, we wished each other luck and entered our respective waiting rooms, and soon the clock hands pointed to 10 AM.

“Participant number 08, Viktor! It’s time to go out!”

With the announcer’s booming voice, I summoned my greatsword and advanced toward the arena.