45 – Criminal-2
“What is this! There aren’t any tickets left?”
“Strictly speaking, it’s not that there isn’t a single ticket left… But starting from this league, the standard for selling tickets has changed a little. Didn’t you receive an announcement in advance?”
Rumors about men starting gladiator fights were no longer rumors that only nearby residents knew about.
She was a woman with enough wealth and power to meet men through normal means, and despite the rumors, she didn’t dare go to the gladiator arena. If rumors spread of her frequenting her gladiatorial arena, her men would not think well of her.
However, there were many women who were in the middle class. There are many women who have a lot of money, but the process of earning it is not noble in the eyes of men.
A well-known blacksmith, a successful merchant, a gambler with good hand skills, or a mercenary leader.
For bourgeois of low status, Evan’s sword fight was one of the few opportunities they could spend money to meet a man.
Of course, Daisy couldn’t be satisfied with accepting the entrance fee to the ‘normal’ arena from them.
“You know that a while ago, the ‘priority to view’ was sold, right?”
“That… I know.”
It was an item that was sold for a huge amount, so expensive that ordinary people could not buy it.
Of course, ordinary spectators did not understand the act of paying such an amount and barely buying priority.
“50% Of the audience seats are given to those who have priority viewing rights. The remaining seats are decided by voting among those who have reserved tickets.”
“So… Is there still a chance?”
“Of course.”
But the woman had no choice but to give up her hopes when she saw the documents the receptionist showed her.
“If this… Fails, will you give me a refund?”
“There is no refund. But, you can watch the sword fight you want… Once for free in the same month.”
The woman took a deep sigh and bought her ticket while sighing deeply.
She hadn’t seen Evan’s fight yet, but she knew how proudly the other colleagues who saw it talked about the sword fight.
I don’t know if it was a priority ticket for viewing, but it wasn’t so expensive that I couldn’t buy a ticket for the Colosseum. She wasn’t very interested in sword fighting, but it wouldn’t hurt for her to look into her hobbies this time.
“At this rate, I don’t have money to play cards…”
“Thank you for using it!”
The receptionist bowed her head.
“Uh, isn’t there a place that sells snacks nearby? Now that I’m here, I feel like I want to see it.”
“Turn left and go all the way. There will be stores! Simple bread or snacks, as long as you like…”
“Thank you.”
The woman walked toward the store with a nonchalant face.
“Come to think of it, I heard that Evan is eating at a restaurant inside the Colosseum right now…”
“No, you should have said that earlier!”
The woman hurriedly ran out and ran to the location of the store the receptionist had told her about. The guide smiled happily.
/////
“Really, are you okay with this?”
“What are you saying. Actually, an ordinary restaurant has a tremendous publicity effect just by having a man come to it?”
“…Why?”
“At this level, it is okay for men to come… It can be said as a certification mark.”
Well, just being a man is treated almost like a celebrity. There was nothing strange about him, even if he helped with publicity.
“Women who are trying to have a casual meeting somehow gather to meet a man.”
“Hmm…”
“Even so, I wanted to talk a little bit about the business. If it makes Evan feel bad even just a little bit, it’s something that needs to be canceled.”
“Business?”
Daisy smiled sinisterly.
“First of all, did I mention that there were changes related to the table?”
“Yes, but…”
“If you’re simply looking for money, it would be most convenient to put Evan’s game up for auction neatly. However, it won’t produce very positive results.”
“Hmm…”
“Putting aside everything else, there is no stability or topicality. It’s a bit of a shame. Evan is the asymmetric power of this Colosseum.”
Her head was full of thoughts about her business, as if she were going to devour the enormous salary I was receiving.
“Once you hold the treasure of being a man who participates in gladiatorial combat, you cannot waste that advantage with just a few pennies.”
“What if?”
“Through Evan, I want to increase the number of people who come and go to the Colosseum. People who have paid enough money will be able to watch Evan’s game right away, but those who don’t will have to put in a lot of effort.”
“Ah…”
There is no messenger or smartphone. Even if the results of the lottery are notified, you have to step into the Colosseum once.
I am not the only one who benefits. The half-popular gladiators will be able to secure the crowds that were pushed out to watch my matches.
“There will be more people entering the gladiator arena. They may meet Evan, but even if they don’t meet, they will come to the Colosseum and spend money. Snack shops and restaurants, gambling halls and swordsmanship dojos…. I’m ready.”
“No, are you thinking of starting a business like that?”
“It’s already been opened. If Evan-sama shows his face once or twice like this, there won’t be any business at a loss.”
Looking at the people who filled the menu, which was nothing special, her words did not seem just bluff.
“Still, there must have been money needed for investment…”
“I also had a lot of worries about that. Because I had already lent money to someone I could trust, and if I was hasty in debt to a huge power, my management rights could be infringed.”
” Then how…”
“I got help from Miss Florence. In a few years, I’ll be able to get the money back with a huge profit.”
“Huh.”
I thought he looked like he had a lot of money, but I didn’t know that he was a tycoon enough to get involved in a business like this.
“Well, what Evan-nim has to do hasn’t changed. We’ve prepared a special space for Evan-nim here too, right? It’s enough to come and have a meal once in a while.”
The space where Daisy and I were talking was like a private room in a restaurant.
There is no danger that the conversation inside will spill out, but people outside the curtain might be staring at this place.
Anyway, there was no reason to feel bad about being told that I was a person of value. I finished my meal by slowly savoring the pretty good pasta.
/////
“Wow, is there a man in there?”
“That’s right.”
Instead of focusing on the meal, Jerry and her friends were staring at the tent in the corner.
“I’m envious. Shouldn’t I have played a gladiator?”
“You’re the one who said mercenaries are the best way to make money comfortably…”
“No, back then I didn’t know that men would come into the Colosseum. I wonder if there won’t be a soft and pretty man in our mercenary squad…”
“That can’t be.”
They were friends who lived an adventurer life with Jerry, but they changed jobs one by one and settled down.
It was only when I was young that I could make a living by hunting goblins and wild animals and gathering herbs, but after I grew to a certain age, I had to settle down.
There were women who became mercenaries, and there were women who saved money steadily and opened general stores.
“In the first place, it was you guys who said that gladiators were low wages.”
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“Well… That can’t be helped. With your skills, you could earn money comfortably and safely as a soldier or guard instead of playing as a gladiator.”
“Why would a man do something we don’t want to do…”
“If you put it like that, it’s the same as a general store owner or a mercenary. It’s just that you’re lucky…”
Jerry shook her head, blushing.
“So, really, can’t you just listen to me once?”
“You said no. You want to die together?”
“No, I said we train together. Is it that difficult for a man to bring you a towel?”
At her friends’ teasing question, Jerry shook her head.
“We’re not that close, and we don’t know what will happen if we get caught.”
“What does it mean to be friends? Really, how can you not?”
When Jerry was with her friend, she felt a sense of alienation she had never felt before.
“Seriously, then it’s going to be a big deal…”
“Ah, seeing what you’re saying, you don’t seem to be such a scary person. You can just say that you brought it thinking it was yours.”
Other people did not see Evan as a person. I just saw him as a ‘man who entered the arena because his head went bad’, and he was looking for something to gain somehow.
However, Jerry couldn’t bear to do that.
Even if it was a one-sided gaze, Jerry was looking at him. I knew how he trained, how he spoke, and how he treated other people.
“Hey, if you try to be nice to that guy, will he pay attention to you at least once?”
“That’s… No way. Dalian was also captured this time.”
“Really?”
“It’s the opening game. Somehow…”
“Wow, I’m envious. I want to get knocked over by a guy like that too.”
“No, if you say things like that, you’ll be arrested!”
When Evan entered, the gladiators were firmly intimidated by Daisy.
However, other people did not have such a great sense of crisis.
I just thought they were idiots who enforced unrealistic standards for the guards who managed public morals, but no one knew what the consequences of obscenity against men would be.
People like them never had a chance to meet a man.
“No, it’s nothing for you to report, so why are you scared again?”
“Well, sword fighting isn’t that erotic…”
“Just hugging each other and rolling around. Stabbing the body here and there with long, sharp objects. Isn’t that like that?”
Jerry listened to them without saying anything, his face red.
For some reason, I felt alone.