chapter_0028

28 – How Will You Live?

28 – How Will You Live?

It has been some time since we liberated Dreyhart.

During that time, I was incredibly busy with post-war management.

I had to restore the war-torn Dreyhart, explain to the Platinum Council that the liberation of slaves was my method of governance, send bribes to influential members, and send gifts to the Lion Family (which I didn’t want to do) and the Shilla Family to save face. It felt like my head was going to explode.

I had mostly grasped the content and only needed to stamp my seal, while Hart and Noah handled all the practical work, yet I still had a headache.

I was reminded once again that those two were truly geniuses.

As I dealt with so many tasks, the biggest problem loomed before me.

The biggest issue was, “What jobs will we provide for the liberated free citizens?”

Jobs were a significant concern.

When I looked at the history books from my previous life, there were many instances where slaves were liberated without any plans, resulting in bloodshed.

There were countless problems, such as slaves starving to death because they couldn’t find work or becoming slaves again on their own.

To avoid such issues, I needed to provide jobs for the people who had become free citizens of Dreyhart, allowing them to work and earn money.

I said I could use my personal funds, but Noah and Hart rejected the idea.

I really could use it…

Putting my small disappointment aside, Noah seemed to have already prepared a plan regarding this issue and guided me to a flower garden nearby in Dreyhart.

There, delicate white flowers bloomed, emitting a wonderful fragrance.

However, this scent felt familiar. What was it? I was sure I had smelled it somewhere before…

“Noah, what are these flowers?”

“These flowers are called ‘Cumin.’ When the seeds of these flowers are processed, they become the spice cumin.”

“Ah!”

At Noah’s words, I recalled where I had smelled that fragrance.

This scent… it was the same as the one I had experienced when eating Indian curry.

“Many rare spices grow around Dreyhart. Utilizing this could bring significant profits to Dreyhart.”

Listening to Noah, I learned that a spice business using these slaves had already emerged to some extent in Dreyhart.

However, it had been overshadowed by other slave industries, and the lord of Dreyhart had not recognized the value of the spice business, leaving it half-abandoned.

Noah suggested that if we nurtured this, it could become a business that would sustain the free citizens of Dreyhart, and that sounded reasonable to me.

In my previous life, the age of exploration was opened up due to pepper.

I didn’t know how it was in this world, but there would certainly be some demand, and it seemed sufficient for the free citizens of Dreyhart to make a living.

I asked Noah to proceed with this business.

In addition to that, Noah prepared various jobs.

Among the freed slave soldiers, those who wanted to continue working as soldiers were selected to become regular soldiers of Dreyhart, and some were assigned to the Krone Knights to strengthen the defense of the Krone territory.

He also took a look at the existing mercenary business in Dreyhart.

The basic mercenary business was almost like a service company.

When requests were received in the name of the lord of Dreyhart, they simply dispatched slaves to handle the problems, which led to skilled monster hunters dying in war while inexperienced newcomers were sent to hunt monsters and ended up becoming Slime fodder.

To address such issues, the mercenaries were restructured to operate in a guild format, where they could choose missions based on requests.

With this, the slaves who worked as mercenaries could select tasks they could handle and receive fair compensation for their labor.

As we discussed work, Lana spoke up while passing through Dreyhart.

“Then will the ‘Slave Gladiatorial Tournament’ be abolished?”

The ‘Slave Gladiatorial Tournament’ was represented by the ‘Colosseum,’ a symbol of Dreyhart and the beginning of all tragedies, and it was now completely closed.

“I think that’s how it should be. There are no slaves left to fight, and even if we brought in slaves from elsewhere to fight, the people here wouldn’t tolerate it.”

The people who had become free citizens would no longer accept the sight of slaves fighting for their lives right before their eyes.

At Noah’s words, Lana expressed her disappointment with a blank face.

“I see. That’s a shame. I wanted to see it at least once…”

It seemed that Lana wanted to witness the slave gladiatorial tournament at least once.

While it was morally questionable, it was indeed an exciting spectacle.

Even I had experienced gripping my hands in excitement while watching gladiator movies in my previous life during the duel scenes.

As I recalled those experiences, a sudden idea struck me.

Uh… this might be a good idea?

“It’s right to ban the slave gladiatorial tournament. Instead, how about we do something else?”

“Something else?”

Once we arrived at the office created in Dreyhart, I explained my idea to everyone.

Everyone looked surprised, and especially Noah couldn’t hide his admiration.

“Certainly, if it’s the lord’s idea, we could utilize that Colosseum.”

“But will it be okay? It might not be as entertaining as before.”

Lana said with a puzzled expression.

I understood her point.

What I was suggesting could be seen as a lower version of the current slave gladiatorial tournament.

However, recalling the many matches I had seen in my previous life, I said, “Lana, how about a bet? I bet 10 gold that it will be fun.”

I confidently proposed a wager to Lana.

After a moment of contemplation, Lana said with a blank expression, “I’ll bet my kiss that it won’t be fun.”

“What!?”

“Is that not allowed?”

A grown woman can’t bet something like that in a wager!

As I felt the Confucian dragon within me rising, Lana continued speaking.

“It’s my first kiss. It will definitely be worth at least 10 gold.”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

“I’ll join in too!”

“Noah?”

As I tried to manage the situation, Noah, who had turned red, jumped in to participate in the wager as well.

Noah! You too!?

With Noah joining in, the atmosphere became difficult to manage, and I eventually accepted the wager.

Is it really okay to have such a bet…? The Confucian dragon inside me was in turmoil.

Anyway, with that, the remodeling of the Colosseum began according to my idea.

The blood-stained arena was completely cleaned, and the shabby waiting room for the slave gladiators was torn down and remodeled into a clean and comfortable waiting room like that of soccer players.

In the center of the Colosseum, an octagonal arena made of magically treated soft sheepskin, steel, and Skura spider ropes was constructed.

This was my idea.

It was a safe fighting tournament with rules, the ‘UFC (Ultra Fighting Championship)’!

The rules were basically the same as that tournament from my previous life.

Weapons prohibited, strikes to vital points prohibited, murder prohibited, gloves required, punches allowed, kicks allowed, ground fighting allowed, and so on.

I implemented all the rules I could remember exactly the same.

While preparing the arena, I also recruited competitors for the tournament.

I mainly proposed it to the former noblemen who had fought as slave gladiators.

At first, they were horrified, thinking I was opening a life-and-death fight, but upon hearing the rules, they were astonished.

“Are you saying you’ll pay us to do such a game?”

From what I heard, bare-knuckle fighting was considered a playful warm-up among themselves for the slave gladiators.

When they heard that they would receive a fortune for such a game, a few were tempted to participate, and thus the first UFC in this world was held.

The response was… explosive.

“Wowwwww!!!”

Two warriors were fighting in the octagonal arena.

Warrior Kasha swung a fist as big as a male thigh.

Originally, his weapon was a mace, but it didn’t matter.

His fist, honed over a long time, was as good as a mace, and he swung it mercilessly at his friend.

And Uron lightly dodged that attack and unleashed his specialty, a heart stab, or rather, a straight right hand.

“Uwaaaah!!!”

Thud-!

“Cough!!”

Uron’s straight right hand struck Kasha’s abdomen with a bang.

The impact was so great that the muscular giant was sent flying backward, and Kasha couldn’t regain his senses.

Not letting that go, Uron charged forward with his hefty body, and a tackle struck Kasha.

Boom-!!

“Graaaah!!!”

Kasha, who collided with the ring and fell, appeared to be unconscious, and the referee, checking Kasha’s condition, declared Uron the winner.

“Ah!! The first UFC champion has been born! The champion is Uron Gaiu, the black gorilla of Gaiu!!!”

“Uwooooh!!!”

Uron climbed onto the ring and performed a victory display, beating his chest like a gorilla, and the audience went wild.

Although there was no blood, the match, where fists exchanged blows, created a new charm that excited the crowd.

I watched the matches while eating popcorn with everyone from the VIP seats.

Everyone was glued to every match, and I was already confident of my victory even before the finals.

“Yeah, I’ll win the bet…”

I looked at the girls.

But before I knew it, Lana was standing in front of me.

Lana looked at me with her usual blank expression, then grabbed my cheek.

And…

Smooch-!

“I lost. My lord.”

She came closer and kissed my lips.

My first kiss tasted like the popcorn Lana had eaten.

As my brain froze from Lana’s sudden kiss attack, Noah hurriedly rushed over.

“I! I want to do it too!”

Noah hugged me with a very aggrieved expression.

And her eyes became moist as she drew closer.

And… she kissed me.

Smooch-!

The scent of her hydrangeas tickled my nose.

Ah, even if I die today, I have no regrets.

While I was thinking that, another unexpected attack came out of nowhere!

Smooch!

Before I knew it, Sharen appeared with a cute smile and kissed me.

Sharen had a pleasant scent like a rose.

I barely regained my senses from Sharen’s sudden kiss.

No! I can understand why those two would do it for the bet, but why Sharen?

As I looked at Sharen, she smiled at me like an older sister looking at her cute younger brother.

“Everyone was doing it. Or are you saying, my lord, that you didn’t want my kiss?”

I couldn’t respond and just shook my head left and right.

The night of Dreyhart, where I couldn’t regain my senses, was passing by.

A word from the author (Author’s Note)

??? : How will you live?

??? : I want to live like this!