episode_0031

“What?! He committed suicide? Who gave them the right!”

The brutal match where sword-wielding warriors and monsters fiercely battle, igniting the audience.

The 15-year-old slave who took his own life was supposed to be a sacrifice to herald the beginning of the swordfight.

If one slave died, another could be used in their place, but this time it was difficult.

“Damn it, an important guest is coming!”

Totojen, known as the Dark Merchant, was planning to visit to watch the swordfight. He had quite a perverted taste.

He enjoyed seeing beautiful or lovely children getting hurt.

His favorite was when children, who might not know when they would die, killed monsters, discarding their pure appearance and becoming corrupted. However, there was no child with a delicate and cute appearance, yet possessing the physical strength to tear apart a monster that Totojen would like.

Instead, there were tender children who would be torn apart by monsters, which he would enjoy like a show.

Because his standards for appearance were very strict, even the slave who committed suicide this time was barely a prepared slave.

“Darn it!”

However, that slave ended up dead. There was no time to find another slave immediately. That meant losing a big customer.

“I have to figure something out…!”

Thinking of the money he had received satisfying Totojen, Otugi’s eyes flashed.

“There must be at least one slave who meets the appearance criteria… Ah!”

Otugi remembered the slaves he had locked up underground a few days ago.

“If it’s those guys…”

Muttering to himself, he soon recalled the order given by Jiso, not to use them recklessly, as they were intended for an event.

“Surely Jiso would find this more interesting.”

With a sly grin, Otugi quickly wrote a letter about the two slaves to Jiso.

He tied the hastily written letter to a crow’s leg. Before an hour had passed, he received a response.

The letter said, “Do as you please.” Oduggi revealed a yellow tooth and laughed unpleasantly.

***

“Iris, let’s eat.”

“…”

In the pitch-black darkness where nothing was visible… the prison that should have been sitting there looked completely different from before.

The walls and floor were all made of the same rough rock, but there were lights on the ceiling, and a small table was placed in the middle of the room.

On the table, there were two rice balls. It was a very natural rule that things for survival would be generated when in a state of distress (or a similar situation).

Especially when one has to take care of someone “pretty” or a “little sister,” it becomes very easy to obtain food and supplies. Thanks to this, the two of them could live without going hungry.

“If we continue to live like this, the size of the room might even get bigger.”

One side of the room had already been transformed into a mechanical device. I didn’t do anything in particular. When Iris tried to look at something on the floor, the wall turned on its own, creating a bathroom.

For a minor, pretty girl, it was a very kind gag filter. Perhaps over time, it might even upgrade to a regular household.

“Iris, come on, eat.”

Iris seemed completely out of it, whatever had happened. I had to feed her directly, and she barely chewed and swallowed the food.

After she swallowed, she sat quietly with a vacant expression.

Like feeding baby food, I fed Iris all the rice, then gave her half of my rice ball to eat. Looking at her emaciated body, I had no choice.

After she chewed and swallowed the remaining half, I sat next to Iris. As I combed her tangled hair, Iris clasped my hand tightly.

When I held her hand first, Iris silently held onto it. After taking care of her for a few days, she started holding onto my clothes or my hand and staying still.

“If I take good care of her, maybe her condition will improve a bit?”

Thinking it was fortunate to have even a small change, I opened my mouth.

“Iris, would you like to try making the fist rice ball that we had today? In the place I was in, children also learned how to cook. Oh, I taught them how to make it. If Iris learns, she will surely do well.”

Later, when Iris met Noah and his group, she continued to tell stories of her time living with the children so that she wouldn’t feel repulsed.

I don’t know if they were listening, but it was better than doing nothing, so I kept talking about the children.

As I talked about the kids, Noah came to mind. I wasn’t particularly worried about Noah or the children.

He is a character from the original work, and there’s an “adult” named Juliana by their side, so I thought they would manage somehow.

This confidence stemmed from the fact that the original protagonist, Iris, was living well. I felt relieved thinking, “The main character doesn’t die after all, just like in the original, Iris and Ryan will meet.”

In any case, my worries about the children were relatively light for various reasons. I was more concerned about Iris, who had completely lost her mind.

“When I go back, I should thank Pia.”

I don’t know why Pia suddenly pushed me away, but anyway, thanks to her, I was able to find Iris, so I plan to give her some cookies later.

Clang.

At that moment, the sound of a suddenly opening door was heard. Unlike Jess, the one who opened the door was a man whose face resembled an animal, much like a mouse, with a long tail.

“Hey, you two, what is this?”

The mouse-like man looked around the inside of the prison with a bewildered expression. Somehow, he wanted to make the sound effect of ‘tadara tadara ttan’ with his mouth, but he held back.

“Is this something Jisoo specially prepared for us…? Ah, I don’t know. If we’re late, she’ll nag at us again…”

Muttering to himself, the mouse-like man flicked his finger at Iris and me, who were holding hands.

“Follow me.”

I don’t know what the situation is, but I got up from my seat because I didn’t want to see a bad sight even if I tried to resist. I tried to get Iris up right away, but when I got up, Iris also got up with me.

When we went outside, the mouse-like person locked the prison door and started walking ahead.

We took the elevator that we used to go down to the underground and went straight up. The place they got off was the floor where Iris was first trapped.

They got off the elevator and started walking straight ahead. The mouse-like person stopped in front of a large door across from the elevator.

He approached the wall and pulled a long, stretched rope. Then, a clanging bell sound spread from beyond the door.

Clang.

As if that was a signal, the door opened.

Waaaah -..!

The loud cheers mixed with people shouting “More!” echoed in my ears. I hesitated to take out earplugs from my pocket, but then decided not to.

Inside the door was a short corridor. At the end of the corridor, there were stairs. It looked like at least 30 steps.

At the end of the stairs, bright light was seeping in, as if connected to the outside. However, it seemed impossible to leave through the barred window.

“Wait inside, and when the window opens in front, go out.”

“Is that all right?”

I made an incredulous expression at the question.

“It hasn’t been long since you came in here. Slaves don’t ask questions. Got it?”

The mouse-like person clicked his tongue and went out through the open door. Then the door closed with a thud, leaving only Iris and me in the connected space outside.

“What’s going on?”

I scratched my head and looked around. Old weapons were placed on one side of the wall. Since there was no reason to look at the ominous weapons, I decided to go up the stairs.

I thought about leaving Iris for a moment, but she didn’t let go of my hand, so I just held her hand and went up the stairs together.

“Thank you! Thank you! Now let’s really start the sword fight!”

“Woooh!”

“Hweeik!”

A round and large space, enthusiastic spectators, and the exaggerated tone of a man who seems to be the host.

“Could this be… a frenzied arena?!”

Operated by Jisoo, it’s a place where one can witness fights between demons and humans, humans and humans, and demons and demons, where blood bursts forth. However, the fights are unfair, and the rule is that if it’s entertaining to watch, it’s enough. It’s a place where humans are torn apart like toys.

“Wa-wait! I’m sure we were told to leave when the iron bars open, right?!”

My face turned pale. It’s not much of a problem for me, but Iris, she might not make it out alive.

Clang, swoosh!

“…!”

In the midst of it all, the iron bars above opened. I immediately took a step back with Iris. Then, a huge muscular man standing outside the iron bars swiftly pushed us into the arena.

“Oof!”

I barely managed to hold Iris in my arms and rolled on the ground.

Clang.

A black sword handle fell in front of me as I lay on the ground.

“Don’t just die quietly, it’s no fun. Try to resist as much as possible.”

The man who had pushed us laughed and went inside the passage we came from. It seemed like he had thrown the sword. I staggered to my feet and looked around.

Enthusiastic spectators and an intense heat that made my skin tingle.

Artificial light created by Jisoo illuminated the arena brightly.

“Now, the demon you’ll be fighting against these pitiful siblings is…?! The Snake Lion!”

Clang, swoosh!

From the opposite side of where I stood, I heard the sound of the iron bars rising. A lion with the body of a grown man and a snake for a tail was growling as it came out through the iron bars.

I urgently grabbed the sword. It was quite heavy, and the tip of the sword struck downward.

“Should I run and try to escape along the wall? Or should I try to negotiate using those words?…”

As I desperately pondered ways to avoid the crisis, at the same time…

“Huh…?”

Iris snatched the sword from my hand. Startled, I looked at Iris and froze in place. A bright white light was sparkling in her pupils.

There was a beautiful sparkle that represented the qualities of a hero.

“…”

Iris released my hand without a word and started walking forward confidently, before I could even stop her.

Thud!

She shot forward.