episode_0032

“Yes, Your Majesty. The hunt ended well. However, we apologize for having to return to the island later than scheduled due to events that occurred at the end.”

“It’s okay. I’ve already heard the general story from Lesala. There is no harm in being cautious.

It’s a good thing. I hope you were able to relieve some of your fatigue at Thermae Solarinae.”

When I bowed my head and apologized, Empress Solaria smiled and answered as if it was no big deal.

“Anyway, I will give you a deserved reward for carrying out my request well. However, it seems like the people are getting tired of waiting for the event to start…

If it’s okay with you, let’s talk about the rest while we walk.”

How many people in the empire would outright reject her invitation? Moreover, walking next to the emperor was something that even a decent noble could not do lightly.

I quietly handed over the spear to one of the guards and then walked between the guards who opened the way.

As soon as I stood next to Empress Solaria, they moved again and surrounded us, moving their feet simultaneously as the Empress started walking again.

Luvia and Emma were quietly following the neat movements.

“…What was his response?”

“It was positive.”

“Thank goodness. This is quite…”

The sound of the guards’ footsteps, clanking armor, and the growing murmur of the crowd hid her questions and my answers.

Officially, what the Empress asked me to do was to deal with or capture the monsters that were rampaging throughout the empire.

Many of the legionnaires had to do their best just to protect the land of the empire, which was expanding as a result of constant conquest and enslavement.

In particular, if the opponent is a powerful monster that is difficult to deal with with soldiers or adventurers of a reasonable number or skill, it will be cheaper in terms of overall cost to send a gold-level adventurer to deal with them at once without additional sacrifice.

Considering that the reason the adventurer system was created in the first place was to resolve the vacuum in maintaining internal security, it was not that strange for me to be entrusted with such a request.

Because I have handled the requests I have received so far without any problems, I have been able to keep the medal that I currently wear around my neck.

But at the same time, that wasn’t the only request I received.

Sometimes, after completing a requested hunt, I wander around to various places before returning to the island.

To others, having completed an important request, it may seem like a rest before receiving the next request… but in reality, this was the most important part of the request.

Using her status as a gold-level adventurer, she travels throughout the empire to convey the Empress’s intentions to those she wants, and then relay their answers back to her.

So what is being conveyed and told in such a cumbersome way?

Certainly, the ability of Empress Solaria to restore power similar to that of one of the powerful people holding the real power of the empire from a scarecrow emperor who was placed on the throne at a young age is not enough to express it as amazing, but…

At the same time, to put it on the other hand, it is also true that the emperor of the empire still has ‘barely’ a level of power similar to that of Hana.

In the end, in order to change the empire, which was strong on the outside but rotting on the inside, as she intended, it was necessary to borrow strength from here and there.

Until one day, she, called the Sun, can truly drive out the shadows from the shadows of the Empire.

-Wow!!

While we were talking, we finally arrived at the head table prepared for the Empress and could clearly hear the tremendous cheers of the crowd gathered in the Colosseum.

More than tens of thousands of spectators cheered, anticipating the appearance of the emperor they serve.

“Wait here for a moment.”

Of course, in the first place, we met in secret to avoid being noticed by others, but now I couldn’t show myself by the Empress’s side in front of so many people.

The Empress ordered me to wait for a moment and went forward with only the guards.

While I stepped back for a moment and looked at her back with the other members of the Royal Guard who also stayed behind, Empress Solaria stepped forward to her subjects and raised her arms high and shouted.

“Subjects of the empire! Your sun has come here now!”

The crowd cheers louder at her declaration.

“Colosseum. Your master commands you on this occasion to prove the power and glory of the empire.

For our pleasure, let the blood flow down there once again! Let the game begin!”

While the cheers reached their peak at her command, the Empress, who accepted the cheers by waving her hands, slowly sat down in the VIP seat prepared just for her in the Colosseum.

When she ordered the game to start, her face didn’t look that happy, unlike the crowd who cheered her words once she was out of the public eye.

“It looks like His Majesty still doesn’t like gladiatorial games.

But thanks to him, there are now almost no fights between pitiful slave gladiators.”

A woman with long purple hair, the same color as the cloak she was wearing, was slowly backing away from the empress’s side and speaking to her.

The closest person to the Empress was the sword and shield that protected her, Lenoria, the captain of the guard.

“Ah, of course, we cannot leave out your role in capturing monsters from all over the empire who would die instead of humans and other races.

Or are you planning on running again this time?”

She asked jokingly, laughing lightly and tapping my shoulder.

The Empress, like her predecessor, was not the type of person who enjoyed bloodshed in the Colosseum.

However, the Empress, who knew that the people of the empire were already addicted to the scent of blood emanating from this huge circular arena, approached the situation in a different way than her predecessors to improve the situation.

The proportion of bestiari fighting against beasts and monsters was greatly increased in the games, and not only slaves but also free adventurers could participate as gladiators.

At the very least, to ensure that humans and other races do not die fighting each other or each other, and that matches between them do not necessarily end in the slaughter of the loser.

Thanks to this, I was able to occasionally go out and earn some money, and among the gladiators who were not connected to the Catenis family, they showed high support for the Empress.

The same was true for Lenoria, who was a gladiator but joined the Royal Guard after retirement. She caught the eye of the Empress and became her confidant. She led the way to make the Royal Guard, which, contrary to its name, was once virtually controlled by powerful figures, become loyal to the Emperor again. While doing so, he became the captain of the Royal Guard.

As someone who often receives requests from Empress Solaria, he was someone I encountered often.

“Perhaps it is because His personality is so good. It’s been a while. Captain of the Guards.”

“Okay. I heard that the request was successfully completed. Thank you for your hard work this time too.”

“Thank you. By the way, what is today’s game about? Because I was in a hurry, I couldn’t even check it yet.”

“Do you remember the chimera you caught last time?”

“Are you talking about the monster that the alchemists made illegally? We had to go through a lot of trouble to capture them alive for research.

Is that and those Bestiari fighting?”

With a nervous expression, I looked at the gladiators waiting for the arena door to open and the monster to come out.

‘Two male and female human gladiators, one Lamia and one centaur?’

“How are their skills?”

“I don’t think I will die from that chimera.

Not only are their skills not bad, but in the end, that chimera was unable to recover from the wounds it suffered from you.

Well, I don’t know if it’s the audience’s first time seeing a chimera, but if you look at the scar itself, it looks rather threatening.”

-Geeky geek…

The moment she finished speaking, the sound of soldiers slowly lifting the thick iron door leading to the arena’s basement began to be heard.

The cheers of the crowd, which had quieted down for a while while waiting for the game to start, grew louder again, drowning out the sound.

-Grrr…

Amid the cheers, a monster full of anger slowly walked into the stadium with a growling sound.

The snout and body of a huge reptile with multiple pairs of eyes, the wings of a bat on top of it, the claws on six feet that dig into the ground every time it walks, and the tail with menacing hard spikes.

While people cheered and applauded the sight of a monster who had no shortcomings in a bloody game, the bestiari’s expressions hardened with tension.

“It certainly looks incredibly threatening. Did you say it was a chimera created to imitate a dragon?”

“Yes, it even spewed fire at that time. It’s clear that the wounds from back then haven’t completely healed.”

The audience and Bestiari didn’t notice him, but I could recognize him as I had already been with him once.

Of the six wings, the three that were torn off by my spear were still intact and could not fly, and one of the eyes that had been cut off by the sword Emma swung was still scarred and white as if she could not see.

Moreover, since Luvia has removed the fossil that was embedded in her body at that time, she will not be able to breathe fire…

“Hmm?”

However, despite this, I felt a certain sense of discomfort from his appearance.

“Why but?”

“No… It looks like he’s not in a good condition… You didn’t do anything special, right?”

“No way. If it had been caught, most of the spectators who came to see the Colosseum would have rioted.

Moreover, as I said before, gladiators are not an opponent that cannot be defeated, so why bother doing that?

…Now that I think about it, it really seems like he’s trembling strangely, just like you said… I’ll have to convey your words to His Majesty, just in case.”

While Leonora went forward to speak to the seated Empress Solaria, I continued to look closely at the chimera and gladiators.

Finally, the Bestiari, who had completed their siege, attacked first.

The first to step forward was a centaur. Holding a long spear in her hand, she kicked off the ground for a moment and soared into the sky, then slashed one of the guy’s legs with the spear and pierced it.

-Kiyaaa!

When the guy roared in pain and belatedly turned around and tried to bite her with his teeth, the centaur quickly dodged it by rolling to the side.

While the monster’s blood was flowing, the crowd cheered, and the bestiari’s eyes seemed to pass by the thought that it was worth a try, seeing that the guy was slower than expected.

‘…But why am I so anxious…’

An anxiety that I can’t pinpoint clearly, but that just won’t go away.

-Tuk.

What made me realize what it was was a very small sound in the midst of the commotion that combined the roar of the bastard, the cheers of the crowd, and the sounds of the fighters.

The sound of the centaur’s spear falling to the arena floor and rolling.

That in itself might not be that strange.

In any case, if you make any violent movements during the fight, the pole could break.

However, the spear had literally been pulled out from the blade that had penetrated the flesh.

It was as if his flesh had filled up again from the inside and pushed him there.

The Bestiari, who had been cutting and stabbing while avoiding the Chimera’s heavy attacks, also noticed something strange and stepped back in panic.

The wounds they had carved into the chimera’s body were being erased as if water had been sprinkled on a painting that had not yet dried.

“…What is that?”

The last time I fought it, and when I captured it and handed it over, it didn’t have any regenerative abilities like that.

Since it was the Empress’s people who managed it, there would have been no way they would have modified it like that to kill the gladiators, right?

In fact, Empress Solaria, who was watching the game, stood up as if she was embarrassed.

But the problem did not end there.

The chimera seemed to have slowly become aware of its condition.

Even if you get hurt, the pain soon disappears and new strength arises again.

And… with that new power, I think I can even heal wounds that haven’t healed in the meantime.

A tearing and cracking sound came from the back of the guy who was lying down, trembling, ignoring the horrified Bestiari.

-Aaaah!

With a painful roar, three new wings extend from its back.

The guy, who was flapping the other half of his wings that he had forgotten but had regained, scanned the audience with several pairs of eyes whose colors had returned.

Like trying to find someone among the crowd of people clapping, thinking that nothing was just adding excitement to the game.

I quickly avoided his gaze and took a step back into the shadows, but his eyes were chasing something else in the first place.

The one person who shines the brightest among this large crowd. Empress Solaria.

And the guy lying flat on the ground spread his six wings wide and flew up.

Roaring towards where we are.