Master Gets Bored of the Colosseum

While watching Shusei's street-performance-like fighting, Master glanced to the side.

Alexia cut an impressive figure even standing.

He studied her for a moment, then opened his mouth.

"Hey, Alexia."

"What?"

"I'm getting bored of the colosseum."

"Wha— Excuse me?!"

Alexia gave him a look that said are you serious right now.

Then she pointed at him.

"Whose orders do you think got us into this tournament?!"

"No, watching you guys fight is fun. It's the other matches that are the problem."

Master looked at the tournament bracket.

He didn't know most of these people.

The famous figures he knew were merchants, not warriors.

"They're all strangers to me. Even when someone's supposedly a famous warrior, it just doesn't register."

"Well, I suppose that's fair."

"The crowd's energy carried me at first, but…"

Apparently Tankton had won the current match.

Master had already lost interest.

"The betting odds have dropped too."

"Ten-to-one odds shouldn't have existed in the first place. Azu isn't weak, you know."

In response to Alexia's words, Master jiggled the coin pouch.

Twelve gold coins inside.

Spoils from betting on Azu.

"Yeah, she's doing great. Next up is Elza, huh."

"… There's something I'd like to ask."

"What?"

The fighters were switching out.

Master watched Elza and Darz enter the arena while lending Alexia his ear.

Elza waved to the crowd. She'd built up a decent following of her own.

Maybe he could sell the right to shake Elza's hand for a fee.

Master was genuinely entertaining the idea.

"You bought Elza from a slave merchant too, right?"

"That's right."

"… I'm surprised you could afford her."

"Cost me a fair bit."

"How much?"

Master made it a policy not to differentiate between his slaves' treatment.

He might unconsciously favor Azu a little, being his first slave and all.

But he'd never told any of them what the others had cost.

"Less than you. That's all I'll say."

"I see."

That was all Alexia said before falling silent.

Master tried to figure out what had prompted the question, but came up empty.

Alexia wasn't the type to lord her price over the other slaves.

The pride she'd carried since her days as a noblewoman hadn't changed.

Though from what he'd gathered, being a noble hadn't exactly been smooth sailing for her.

Elza's match against Darz was, unfortunately, a bad stylistic fit.

A stark contrast to how well Alexia's abilities had matched up against the Spartian warriors.

With her blessings, Elza was far stronger than she looked, but even swinging her mace with that strength wasn't enough to shatter a shield.

Especially not a Spartian shield.

A cleric's defenses were formidable, but none of that mattered when a shield was shoving her bodily across the arena.

The difference in lower-body strength was simply too great.

Against a lesser warrior than Darz, she might have had a chance.

Elza was sent flying out of bounds.

She didn't seem to have taken much damage, at least.

The match ended quickly.

Master wasn't bothered by Elza's loss.

Only Azu was left. Almost done.

Win and that was great. Lose and they'd get to leave early.

Elza healed herself, brushed the dirt off her habit, and exited the stage.

Darz departed too, leaving the stage empty.

Of the original twenty, fourteen had been eliminated. Six remained.

Azu would be seeded through the next round, so her spot in the top four was guaranteed.

"Azu's gotten strong, hasn't she."

"Because you work her to the bone. She was just a normal girl at first, right?"

"That's the whole point. I bought her to make her one. Same goes for you."

Buy slaves, put them to work, and the money rolls in without lifting a finger.

Master's chosen line of work for them was adventuring.

He'd pulled every trick in the book to keep them alive, of course.

The result of all that was the Azu of today and her companions.

"I loooost."

Elza's voice came from behind.

She'd finished her match and regrouped with them.

Having Elza stand in the aisle too would block it entirely.

The next fight was Finn versus Obias.

Master, growing restless, decided there was no need to watch from up close and moved to the standing section.

He considered giving Elza a motivational slap on the rear too, but couldn't predict how she'd react, so he let it go.

Besides, she didn't seem to care about the loss.

The standing area was nearly packed as well.

The three of them watched the stage from the back. Much farther than the previous seats, but that was fine.

"All that's left is Azu-chan's match, right?"

"Right. And Elza, listen to this. This man says he's bored of the colosseum."

"Oh dear. Don't say that to Azu-chan, Master. Please?"

She's trying the hardest of all of us, Elza added.

"Didn't need you to tell me. She's been earning well."

"And yet he kept saying the colosseum was just an afterthought to his business meetings…"

Alexia sighed.

She still couldn't quite get a read on what made Master tick.

They hadn't spent much time together until this trip to Spartia, after all.

From Alexia's perspective, the one thing abundantly clear about Master was that he loved money. Yet he also spent freely on his slaves.

The way a craftsman maintains his tools.

Perhaps it wasn't money itself he loved, but the act of making more of it.

The only thing she could say for certain was that this master of theirs was an eccentric with peculiar tastes.

Alexia arrived at that conclusion and nodded to herself in satisfaction.

Master watched the display with a baffled expression.

While they'd been at it, the match had progressed, and Finn appeared to have won.

She was pretty battered.

Beating a Spartian warrior was no small feat.

Even from their distant vantage point, Finn's lack of composure was plain to see.

Finn exited.

Watching her retreating form, Master murmured.

"So she'll face Azu next. I'd rather not have those two fight. It could be a bad influence."

"… I agree."

Alexia voiced her agreement.

Azu was pure and innocent, for better or worse. Finn, on the other hand, had something festering inside.

Not a great matchup in the slightest.

The next match.

Darz versus Alhechhi went the distance. Darz put up serious resistance, but Alhechhi ultimately took the win.

Darz was superhuman by warrior standards, but still within the realm of human.

Alhechhi was a natural disaster in human form.

If Darz encountered Alhechhi on a real battlefield, he'd rally his warriors and fight in phalanx formation.

The true strength of a Spartian warrior lay not in individual combat, but in the collective.