91 – Qualification-4
In the empty and cold room, the sound of a sword being swung echoed.
Dana In her own way, it was an act to straighten her mind.
She was already well beyond the level that required her basic training, but she was too unstable for proper training, thought training.
Her body was healed. No matter how many times they were group after group, the Colosseum’s healers did their duty without a single word of complaint.
However, her shaky spirit made it difficult to even strike the sword.
“Why, why, why…”
Her feelings of hopelessness over the fact that she doesn’t deserve it enveloped her.
In an instant, excessive force went into the sword.
She doesn’t want to let go of the place she now occupies, her obsession and greed mixed with her sword.
She wants to be the champion once again, and she wants to spend happy times with him.
She wants to be the one who can talk casually, have a meal with him, and guide him with a leisurely look.
The power that transcends limits was put into the sword. The sword pierced the air violently.
However, Dana was a person who was good at handling a sword. It was the same with using her own body.
If there is a line she recognizes as ‘this is her own limit’, it is the real Dana, the human limit.
And, usually, the power beyond the limit puts a burden on the user.
“Keugh!”
It was a rudimentary mistake. Swept away by her sword that cut through the air, her posture was ruined for the moment.
She couldn’t even remember when she had done it, and it was a mistake that a Dana-level gladiator shouldn’t make.
She picked up her sword again. Even so, she couldn’t back down like this.
Because in order for her to be with him, she had to continue to be ‘Champion Dana’.
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“…Really, is that so?”
At that moment, a sense of futility came over me.
Dana became the champion the year before she met Evan.
She
She started working as a gladiator even before she became an adult, and it was a result of years of hard work that she sounded like a ‘potential rookie’.
However, she said it couldn’t last forever.
Among the champions of the Colosseum that have ever existed, no one has ever held that position twice in a row.
Once a champion becomes a champion, other gladiators very naturally study ‘how to defeat that gladiator’.
No matter how strong the champion is, it cannot overcome the difference in numbers.
Even if one person fights against the champion and loses, the next person prepares for the next fight with the information obtained from the defeat.
No matter how hard a champion tries, he has no choice but to collapse under the flood of talented people.
“…”
Of course, Dana’s skill was stronger than her other champions.
If he tried to live or die, he might be able to hold out for another year or so.
But, was it really for him?
Will maintaining this relationship really make Evan happy?
The sword, once questioned, fell much weaker than before.
Even if she doesn’t have to do this, he might love her.
However, at that moment, Dana was no longer a woman who could be of help to him.
Just leaning in his arms, wondering when her Evan’s mercy will run out, a relationship that will disappear the moment he gets tired of her or clears her mind.
But even if she became champion again, in the end what Dana could do for Evan was limited.
“Should I… Run away?”
It might be better to disappear somewhere.
Now, Evan is not a stranger who was caught in an alley and fought desperately.
She is under the protection of the princess, and even if she is not her, she is living with Florence, Jerry, Marie, and many other women.
If the burden of Dana disappears, he might be able to become truly free.
“Is it there?”
At Evan’s knock, Dana’s thoughts froze.
This is a polite visit. Even if she doesn’t have to be considerate of her this much, Dana is in a position to hang her neck on her Evan.
However, Dana was not ready to face him.
It must have come to comfort her. She tried hard to pretend she was okay, but she couldn’t completely hide her expression and mood.
So, I thought it would be okay to play her last childish.
“…No. Right now, no.”
At this rate, he will return. Because it was always like that.
Because he was always too good for her.
“I’m sorry.”
However, Evan opened the door. Dana, who had been turning her head, turned around in surprise at the sound of the door opening.
“There is a place I really want to go with you. Can’t I?”
The resistance in Dana’s heart collapsed so easily.
For her to turn down his request when she saw him face to face would tear her heart out more than she could bear.
In the end, Dana had no choice but to nod her head.
/////
After grabbing Dana and dragging her along, I followed her main road and came out into the street.
Although I promised not to go alone, if the person I came with was Dana, Daisy would understand.
“…”
Dana’s expression was not good. It seemed like they were afraid of me, and it seemed like they were looking around, not knowing what to do.
I don’t know exactly. Why she is so confused, she can’t figure out everything.
However, she did not want to be left unattended.
If she can only see each other again only through a special, romantic, and unusual situation, like when she and her first met, it would be a very unstable meeting.
“This… Is too much. It must be expensive. I have to buy it.”
Inside the cloth cloth was filled with crispy bread and sweets.
“Even if you give me this much, I can’t even eat it all…”
“I didn’t buy it just for ourselves, so it’s okay.”
Found with Florence’s help, it was a famous confectionery shop in the vicinity.
Kindly, they took care of my situation and delivered this large amount of snacks to the Colosseum.
If I had realized in advance that I had to carry this with my own hands, I would have rather asked for it to be delivered to the destination.
Still, walking down the street with a heavy cloth in both hands had its own taste.
“I can lift everything…”
“I can do it too.”
Somewhat forced.
Even if Dana got angry, she thought she couldn’t help it. Because if I didn’t take such a risk, at some point my relationship with her would become distant.
“This road…”
“Well. It’s the first time I’ve been there, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to find it.”
I asked Daisy for directions again and again, but the hastily written note at that time was ambiguous and inaccurate.
If I had known it would be like this, it might have been better to come after seeing the map with the destination.
“How… You know?”
“I just asked. I’m sorry for everything. It’s what my girlfriend does, but I don’t know so much about it…”
“Girl… Friend?”
A blush spread across Dana’s face. Shame and bewilderment mixed, a blush so deep that it was indistinguishable from her red hair.
“What, did you mean to say no now?”
“That’s… That, um, that’s…”
If they hit me hard here, they would have had to use plan B, but fortunately that situation did not happen.
As expected, her liking for me has not changed. Because of some other factor in her, she was just thinking to herself that she had to suppress that feeling.
“It has arrived.”
“Here… I hoped.”
There was no signboard. However, the red bricks, clearly visible even from a distance, seemed to tell me that I had come to the right place.
“How did you know?”
Dana looked at me with her quivering eyes.
“Daisy told me about it. I talked about the old days. When you first rejected me, what kind of worries did you have… I didn’t even think about it.”
Thinking about it now, it was a bit overly passionate.
Turns out I wasn’t wrong, but she even came into the Coliseum saying she rejected me ‘because she wasn’t sure how sincere I was’.
However, human emotions are not simple. Dana is like that too.
She knows what she’s doing, where she’s at, the money she’s making and the people she’s entangled with.
All of those things were precious enough to be impossible to give up. Of course I could understand.
“This, it’s not because of these people! So, that’s…”
“Wasn’t it? I heard you were taking care of the orphaned children here.”
It was an era with many advanced parts to think of as the Middle Ages, but a world that is kind to the weak is much harder to find than a world that is not.
People who are abandoned and children who disappear always exist.
Women who give birth alone to receive childbirth support, then abandon the child on the street because they do not want to admit that they have to be responsible for them.
Unlucky women who thought they gave birth to a child with a man’s love, but couldn’t bear to throw away their small lives when the man told them to throw away the child, considering it a burden.
Even though it is not a place where ‘behavior worthy of having a child’ occurs on a daily basis like in my world, there were abandoned children.
“Let’s go. This is a decent snack… Maybe you’ll be welcomed.”
I want to walk the same path.
Walking on each other’s path, stopping at the moment we run into each other, confirming each other’s existence, and then running again is good.
Still, I want to walk with her.
She pushed the large wooden door of the orphanage with her body.