18 – Rookie Gladiator-4
It was a decent bed. It wasn’t as good as Selam’s top-of-the-line bed, but it was much better than sleeping on a bumpy street the first night I came here.
Looking outside, it seemed that it was not too late yet.
Even in Selam, where there were 5.6 Maids per male, if there was only one regret, it was that the scenery was not that good.
The windows were too narrow and extended only to the sky, so it was impossible to see the city view even from that tall building.
However, this place was different. Selam’s glass windows were certainly beautiful, but all I could see through them was the sky.
From here, you could see all the scenery of the city.
People who are just getting up and moving, mercenaries and farmers, merchants and adventurers.
Everyone was moving on their own feet to start their own work.
It was lively. It seemed alive.
After staring out the window for a few minutes, a nearby merchant looked up at me.
I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it didn’t seem like a bad meaning anyway. After lightly shaking my hand, I changed my clothes for dinner.
“Wow, it’s here! It’s really here!”
Upon entering the restaurant, I heard cheers from excited gladiators, as if I had seen a celebrity.
“Uh…”
This kind of reaction was unexpected. Like Daisy and everyone else, I thought we wouldn’t even see eye to eye.
“Hey, newcomer! Have you decided on a class?”
However, they approached me casually.
I don’t know if it’s fearlessness or if s*xual desire has defeated reason. However, for me it wasn’t bad.
Because it means that you can be accepted as one of them, as part of the gladiators.
“What is a class?”
Still, you have to learn how sword fighting in this world works.
“Did you come in without knowing that? Um… Well, you can choose according to your taste, but don’t just poke around. Okay?”
“Kokkok?”
“Oh, don’t you know Kok Kok? You, um. Well, there’s no way you’ve ever seen a sword fight. Is this the first and last time you’ve seen Dana fight?”
“Yes.”
“Those with nets and spears are cock cocks. These are the ones who tie up opponents with nets and then stab them with spears from afar. They’re real bastards, so don’t even talk to them.”
After hearing that, the other gladiator strode toward you with a burst of anger.
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“I told you not to use the word kok-kok! Besides, are you spreading malicious rumors about the new gladiator? Hey, do you want to fight?”
“If you want to throw away that Redz-like net and spear and come out into the ring with a sword and shield, there’s nothing you can’t fight.”
“You can’t win fair and square, is this?
In an instant, a fight broke out. There were also gladiators who ate casually, but ‘fighting? I have to join in too!’ There were also gladiators who intervened.
“…”
I didn’t want to get in between me. I carefully got out of the gap and started to put the food on a wide plate.
I couldn’t say it was the best dish, but it was a good dish.
Wheat bread and plenty of butter, olive oil and unknown spices, fragrant stew, well-seasoned meat and milk with salt and pepper.
I felt it when I first came, but it is rich. If Selam’s cuisine was a work of art, the cuisine here is satisfying enough as a meal.
The first time I came, I was sorry that I was overdoing it because of me, but seeing how delicious food was served today, it might be that the rice was originally served this well.
“It must be delicious…”
Until I sat down in an empty seat, their battle of nerves was not over.
“Do you usually fight like that?”
The gladiator sitting next to me was stunned and stuttered in reply.
“Don’t worry about that. We don’t actually fight, we bicker a few times like that and then become friends again when we’re drinking…”
“Aha.”
After putting the bread on top of the meat and taking a bite, I felt happiness in my mouth.
I couldn’t say Selam’s food was bad, but the portion of meat was too small for me to feel.
It’s a bit stiff, but there was enough butter and olive oil, so I was able to eat it while supplementing the fat.
“Hmm?”
The door opened. Opening and closing the door of the restaurant was normal, but the person who entered it was a bit special.
Red hair, confident and beautiful face, strong muscles in arms and legs.
I was glad to shake her hand, but unfortunately it wasn’t me that got her attention.
Well, rather than me sitting in the corner, the gladiators who are looking at each other as if they were going to kill right now will have no choice but to focus their attention.
“What are you guys doing now! Are you going to have a gang fight in a restaurant?”
Dana’s sweeping voice rang out. It was a bit different.
I’ve seen her fight wildly in the ring, but it’s the first time I’ve seen Dana’s normal life.
“Oh, Dana. It’s not like that…”
“Sit down and eat first!”
As she spoke, the gladiators who had been killing her were scattered and returned to their places one by one.
“Evan, have you eaten? I think you must have woken up.”
“Are you already here?”
“No, that’s why I said that let’s set a duty in advance… Wait, what?”
Dana looked around the restaurant with her hard face, and our eyes met.
“Oh, how are you?”
When I awkwardly greeted her, she hurriedly lowered her head with a red face.
“That, uh, uh… Excuse me!”
And then, he pulled off his tail and ran away. The gladiators in the restaurant laughed out loud.
“Pu-Hup, have you seen Dana’s expression? In front of Prince Nang, they made all sorts of fuss about pretending to be modest…”
“Well, I was curious about how long it would last.”
The mute appearance he showed in front of me was probably just that he couldn’t speak because he was too shy.
Well, it didn’t matter. Dana screaming confidently and Dana running away in embarrassment were cute too.
/////
As soon as I entered the training ground, a gladiator who climbed onto the ring saw me and shouted.
“Welcome, rookie! Shall we test our skills?”
The gladiator swinging his arms around seemed intoxicated by the fact that he was given the opportunity to fight a man. But I couldn’t hide my doubt when I saw the atmosphere behind her back rather than her.
“The atmosphere is more than I thought… It’s soft, isn’t it?”
I thought there would be a sense of hostility, or a hideous atmosphere anyway. To a gladiator, other gladiators are basically competitors.
However, the training ground was unexpectedly friendly. Sometimes there were gladiators who burned with a sense of pride, but there were also many who trained together.
For some reason, there were some gladiators who were sitting still and looking at the ring, looking at me, but somehow they didn’t look bad.
“Ah, they said it was like that before, but not now. In the first place, if we really hate each other like we’re going to kill each other, that’s a problem in its own way.”
“Why?”
“Because we can kill each other.”
No matter how much safety devices you make, healing wizards and quality medicines, you can kill others as long as you hold your sword.
“I heard that this all changed when Daisy reformed the Colosseum. It’s good that we fight seriously… But at least you shouldn’t hate it so much that you want to slit other people’s throats.”
I nodded.
“Besides that, is there anything else I need to know? Rules or unwritten rules before entering the ring… I think it’s better to know now.”
The gladiator tilted his head and replied.
“Hmm, since it’s my first time, I’d like to explain the basics… In a gladiatorium, there is one basic rule. If the tip of a sword or spear touches right in front of your neck or heart while your posture is disheveled, you lose.”
“Surprisingly simple, isn’t it?”
“It’s a rule to prevent the losing gladiator from forcibly holding out in a situation where common sense dictates death.”
“Aha.”
“There are many small rules outside the arena, but once inside, there is only one.”
I liked it. It seemed like there were many tricks to learn besides this in order to kill people.
“I don’t think even Daisy knows much about this… I’ll make sure to ask. Are you really trying to fight?”
“Huh? Of course not.”
I was the one who reflexively responded to her words, but I was able to understand her meaning.
Other gladiators considered it a huge shock for a man to join the gladiators.
If I use my authority as a man, it might be possible to ask my opponent to lose in moderation. Daisy would probably accept that.
However, if you were going to do such a pitiful thing, you wouldn’t even think of becoming a gladiator in the first place.
It was true that Selam was fed up, but even after she got out of there, she could have somehow seduced a noblewoman or found a more comfortable job.
Deciding to become a gladiator meant that I would fight. It didn’t matter if it was difficult, if blood splattered, or if I lost.
“Isn’t there a separate weapon?”
“No.”
If you look carefully, there was a rifle that was used in the military, but there was no way you could participate in a gladiatorial fight with such a weapon in the first place.
“Then, let’s do it with bare hands today.
The gladiator standing in front of me lightly wrapped his bandage around his hand. I was a bit clumsy too, but she somehow imitated her and wrapped her bandage on her hand.
“I think it’s a basic physical strength check. In the first place, once you go into combat, the days when bare-handed fighting is useful are so few that it’s less than once in a hundred gladiator fights.”
“Okay.”
The woman standing in front of me is an ordinary gladiator. A normal gladiator, with bandages holding her large breasts in place, and her body just a bit toned.
It was definitely s*xy, but as soon as she lost her mind on her abs, she would end up kissing the floor intensely.
“Then, come and have a look.”
She flicked her fist.