090 Episode – Jealousy (3)
Morita headed to the house on the other side of the arena of Macedon.
Of course, the key to the lock belongs to the arena staff, not Morita, the door is a heavy steel door, the windows are so small that only an arm can fit in, and you can’t get out except when playing games.
Such a place is usually called a prison, but since he is a popular arena star, he was satisfied with the delicious food and alcohol after the game.
It’s a hundred times better than picking up hardened bread or food waste from the roadside in the freezing cold.
Morita passed the prosthetic sword on his arms to the arena staff and took off the mask.
Chunkyung!
When the arena staff opened the prison door, Morita entered the house.
There was a strange person in it.
He was Morita’s older brother, Viscount Griff.
Viscount Griff said as he looked at the pictures and newspaper clippings on the wall.
“You won today.”
“You survived today.”
Viscount Griff removed a picture from the wall.
It was a picture of Tigris taken by the paparazzi.
“There have been rumors lately of saying strange things to gladiators? You are the Tigris of this Macedon arena.”
“Well, it was.”
“Do you want to come and change your nickname?”
Morita said while putting the wooden prosthetic arm on the tabletop into her arm.
“Now that my nickname is starting to get known, why would I change it?”
“Then why are you talking strange things to the gladiators?”
“Did you come here because of something like that?”
When Viscount Griff looked at Morita without saying a word, Morita shrugged and said.
“It’s nothing. At first, I really hated, hated, and jealous of the guy who pushed me into this gutter…”
Morita stood in front of Viscount Griff.
“I hate, hate, and curse every day, so at some point I want to become a Tigris.”
Viscount Griff scanned the headlines of the newspaper clippings on the wall.
[The hero of the zodiac, Tigris, cuts the traitor Count Vinsmoke.]
[Tigris di Norverd becomes the youngest 5-star knight.]
[Bergang, Tigris will become the youngest sword masters in the history of the continent… … ]
“A bastard with no hands wants to become a Tigris? Do you think it makes sense?”
“ね・・・・・・・! Kkkkkkkk!”
Morita shrugged her shoulders and began to laugh out loud.
“I don’t know my brother. No, no one knows who Tigris is, including the reporters who wrote these articles.”
Morita touched the picture of Tigris with her prosthetic arm.
“He’s not that great. He’s a garbage person who likes to look down on others and turn them into assholes.”
Morita was pouring out her words like a baby who had just opened his mouth.
“I remember? Jacob hyung, me and hyung ripped off each dragonfly and butterfly wings one by one and then looked around, right? It’s just like that.”
“He trampled on my pride as if it were tearing apart wings one by one. As if he were a teacher.”
“Obviously, he must have felt an unbearable bliss when I begged for his life. He’s better in every way than this worm begging for his life.”
“The gnome Tigris is by no means a hero of the zodiac. He’s a brutal hedonist who likes to play, dominate, and destroy other people’s lives.”
Morita grabbed the picture of Tigris in the hands of Viscount Griff with both hands.
“There is only one difference between him and me. He knew that pleasure too soon, and now I know.”
Morita pulled out a pin stuck on the wall with her mouth and fixed the picture to the wall again.
“So if you’re going to kill me, get some good guys. Don’t waste any money.”
Viscount Griff said, stroking his beard.
“Hmm… Was Viscount Griff keeping you alive, not to make money from the arena, but to kill you? Why are you doing such an uncomfortable thing?”
“What are you talking about? What did you eat wrong today?”
“Do I still look like Viscount Griff?”
“What is that… huh?”
Viscount Griff wiped his face with his right hand.
Then the face of a white and dry man appeared.
It was Levis.
“Who are you?”
“Call me Smith roughly.”
“Looking at it, it doesn’t seem like his real name. How did you get here?”
Levis put his hand on Morita’s shoulder and said.
“No. That’s not the question. What I’m really curious about is that isn’t it? Aren’t you wondering why I came to you?”
Levis whispered into Morita’s ear.
“I’m here to give you a chance you’ll never have again.”
“······chance?”
Levis reached out for the newspapers on the wall.
“You obviously said you wanted to become a Tigris in the first place. But I didn’t explain it properly. I was only explaining why you play with gladiators.”
Levis said while pointing at the picture of Tigris.
“Why do you want to be a Tigris?”
“······that.”
“The reason doesn’t come out right. I know the reason very well. It’s because you’re obsessed with the idea that you’re a great person and want to be a pretty decent person. It’s about a butcher who wears a mask and cuts off the arm of his opponent.”
Levis began to tear off newspaper clippings one by one.
[Tigris, will you become the youngest sword master?]
“Take out your sincerity that is deep in your heart. You don’t want to imitate the pleasures of Tigris.”
[Tigris is awarded the Golden Cross.]
“I don’t even want to be a Tigris.”
[Tigris di Norberd becomes the youngest Imperial University instructor.]
“You couldn’t hate Tigris, who took everything from you, so you came to love him.”
As Levis continued to speak, Morita began to lose consciousness.
“The achievements of Tigris are all nonsense. You couldn’t stand the loss of your hand by the great hero of the zodiac who became a five-star knight at the age of 20 and killed the traitor Count Vinsmoke.”
Levis whispered into Morita’s ear.
“Did you hate Tigris? Everyone else is praising Tigris, but he stole everything from you, didn’t he? So even if you wanted to hate it, you couldn’t hate it. You gave up hating because of the fear and loneliness of not being recognized by anyone.”
Morita’s pupils opened as the wall of reason was torn down.
“Come on, tell me your true feelings. what you really want Why did you say you want to be a Tigris?”
“······I.”
Morita’s eyes were red and bloodshot, and tears were flowing.
“I don’t want to be Tigris.”
Morita brought out the emotions that had been buried in love-hate and awe.
“I want everything from that guy who took my hand. His fame, popularity, wealth, swordsmanship… I want to have everything. I want to make it mine.”
Levis was delighted with the stench of jealousy overflowing from Morita.
This was already ripe enough to be ripe.
“okay. right. That’s your nature. That ugly jealousy and envy. That is your nature.”
Levis pulled out a small syringe from his pocket.
“What is that?”
“You said It’s an opportunity.”
Levis injected the syringe into Morita’s right forearm.
Then, like a lizard, Morita’s right hand grew.
Morita was startled by the sudden growth of her right hand and forgot what to say.
“What is this?”
While Morita stared blankly at her right hand, she also placed a syringe on the opposite forearm.
Then the left hand grew the same.
“I will only be able to use my hands once in the next 30 minutes. If you want to get your hands back forever, kill your brother and 10 ordinary citizens in front of everyone.”
“Why are you making me do that?”
“To see your resolve. I want to see how far you can go to get both hands.”
Levis changed his face back to Viscount Griff.
“When you’re done, leave the rest to me. I can only give you two hands, but I will introduce you to someone who can make your ugly wish come true.”
Levis said with a smirk.
“Then enjoy your freedom for 30 minutes and think about it. I’ll just go.”
Levis opened the door and left, and Morita, who was left alone, moved her hand around.
Morita touched her face with both hands.
I felt rough skin and warmth.
I also touched the tabletop.
I could feel the texture of the soft wood.
Then he turned to the pictures of Tigris and newspaper clippings on the wall.
Morita touched the picture of Tigris and began to tear it apart.
Newspaper scraps were also ripped out and pins were pulled out.
Then I tore it all apart and put it in the trash.
“Tigris….”
Morita’s eyes blazed brightly like the setting sun outside the window.
Morita seemed to have already decided what to do.
·········.
Nemesis, who was leaning against the wall outside the window and listening quietly, disappeared in the shadows.
Nemesis said, taking a sip of the water.
“It was not easy to chase this guy named Smith. If I felt the slightest gaze, I would go into a corner of the alley, change my face and clothes, and change the hotel I stayed in.”
Trisha said, putting a peanut in her mouth.
“But I found Yongke well.”
“I can hide everything else, but it seemed impossible to hide the body odor. Of course, it was unbearable to continue to smell the blood of our own people.”
Nemesis said looking at Tigris.
“So what are you going to do with this guy now?”
Tigris said softly.
“Now that we know that Levis is in Macedon, we must kill him.”
“Is this guy’s real name Levis?”
“Yes.”
“Anyway, how are you going to kill this guy? This guy isn’t a normal person, so if he gets a strange feeling, he’ll run away right away, right?”
Tigris looked at the montage of Levis’s face and opened his mouth.
“We’ll just have to wait in a place where he can come to.”
“It’s not worth it… ah.”
Nemesis saw a large circular arena outside the carriage window.
“The day Morita has a match will definitely come. If Morita keeps his contract with Levis, it is highly likely that he is in the middle of a match.”
The only day Morita can pick up a weapon is on match day.
And I told you to kill Viscount Griff and 10 civilians, so Morita will act the day Viscount Griff comes to the arena.
“great. So let’s say Levis has come to the arena. Then he’ll disguise himself as one of the crowd, how are you going to kill him? What are you going to do after you kill him?”
Tigris thought for a moment and then opened his mouth.
“It is dangerous to fight him in the arena. Because other spectators can get involved. Then there’s only one way. You just have to move him to another place.”
“So how are you going to do that? None of us have an archmage capable of teleporting magic…”
“That’s something we don’t have to worry about.”
“Then who cares?”
“Because there are other pros for special operations like this.”
Tigris pulled out a pocket watch from his pocket.
“communication.”
The pocket watch turned into a silver snake.
“This is Tigris di Norverd. I hope to meet you.”
* * *
Morita took a deep breath in front of the stadium door.
My heart was pounding like crazy.
‘It’s finally today.’
how long have you been waiting
I couldn’t even sleep properly with the hope that I could get my hands back.
But I wasn’t tired at all.
Rather, his physical condition was excellent.
shudder!
The arena staff put prosthetic swords on Morita’s arms.
“Hey, Tom. Who are you today?”
“It seems Viscount Griff has decided to kill you today. You recently hired a knight who was disgraced for a war crime in the Black Soil region. They say that one skill is quite good.”
Morita snorted.
“Anyway, there must be a three-star knight there.”
“It’s different from the stupid mercenaries and killers you’ve dealt with. He is a man who has learned the sword properly.”
“Why are you talking so long? Did you ever bet on me?”
“Well, that’s what it is.”
Morita shrugged her shoulders and smiled.
“Keuk Kuk Kuk…!”
“You seem to be in a strange state today…”
“Tom. You make me special.”
“What kind of bullshit?”
Chunkyung!
The arena door opened.
“You will see it.”
Morita headed towards the middle of the stadium.
– Collectors! collector! collector!
The sound of Morita calling out from all directions resounded.
Morita saw Viscount Griff sitting in the VVIP stands and drinking wine, not the knights in the arena.
Viscount Griff was looking at Morita without changing his expression.
His eyes were the same as when he killed Morita’s second brother, Jacob.
‘I’m sure I’m going to die this time.’
Viscount Griff had one reason to send Morita out to the arena.
It was because I thought that Morita had a commercial potential.
It was because he thought that the audience would cheer and rejoice when he saw a knight with both hands cut off, coming down to the bottom of his life, wearing prosthetic swords on his arms, and fighting.
And Viscount Griff’s prediction was correct.
Morita has won battles that no ordinary person would have been able to fight, and thanks to that, the arena is filled with Morita’s fans.
Morita was so popular that the ticket price jumped tenfold on the day of the match.
However, what Viscount Griff did not expect was that Morita had survived for so long.
At the most, I thought I would last for a month or two, but before I knew it, I was continuing this gladiator life for over half a year.
‘Now your toy life is over.’
Morita took off her mask.
Then cheers erupted from all sides.
– The collector took off the mask!
– Who is he? Why did you take off your mask all of a sudden?
– uh? Is that person… Morita?
– Isn’t that Viscount Griff’s youngest brother?
The audience fell into confusion.
Viscount Griff also dropped a glass of wine, unaware that Morita would throw off her mask.
It was because Viscount Griff said that he would unconditionally kill him if he took off his mask.
Morita shouted to the crowd.
“I am Morita di Griff, the youngest brother of Viscount Barion di Griff! After today’s duel, I will leave this arena!”
Morita pointed the sword at the duel opponent.
The other party looked at Morita with a blank look.
“Today, I will take your neck as Morita, not as an arm collector.”
Morita said to the moderator.
“Come on, ring the bell to start the game!”
The moderator looked at Viscount Griff and had no choice but to ring the opening bell.
“Prepare . . . , start!”
Morita ran towards the opponent.
The opponent stood still as if he could not react to Morita’s very fast movement.
‘Win….’
“100 million!”
However, Morita’s sword missed for a long time, and the opponent stepped lightly and knocked Morita down.
Morita rolled over on the dirt filled with the smell of blood.
Then, he quickly got up and tried to defend himself from his subsequent attack.
“This dog….”
But Morita had no choice but to stop.
It was because the knight’s sword was touching Morita’s neck.
Morita swallowed his saliva.
I could see the blood flowing from the nape of the neck down the blade.
The knight opened his tightly closed mouth.
“I was distracted.”
Morita’s head went blank for a moment.
Although the tone of his voice was different, this arrogant tone was because he remembered Morita’s bones to the core.
Morita’s heart started beating like crazy, and the cheers of the crowd were overshadowed by the sound of her heartbeat.
“I’ll take a step back.”
The opponent lifted the sword that touched Morita’s neck.
And took a step back.
However, Morita was frozen and could not get up.
Their faces and body shapes are clearly different.
But Morita knew instinctively.
This guy is Tigris.