Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Max, sitting in a spectator seat of the gladiator arena, sighed. He was worried about Leasis. It was even more so because he cherished her like a younger sister. It was frustrating. She had suddenly disappeared and after a few days of searching, there was no clue to find her.

The Commander-nim would be back soon. What should he do to deal with the consequences? Max became more and more depressed. The difficult work of the Commander combined with his other tasks made him feel like dying. It was questionable that Hizen did not overwork.

On the contrary, the faces of the other Commanders sitting side by side next to Max were filled with laughter. That was because Prince Elnos was also sitting there.

The Commanders acted like hyenas who found their prey. All kinds of flattery were used, and they even made jokes that did not fit the situation. He did not even have time to try. Max touched his forehead with one hand like Hizen. He had a headache.

Elnos smiled inwardly at the sight. He liked Max, who had no sense of flattery. He was smart, sensible, and brilliant. Also, he did not have the smell of the trash next to him. One day, he was also going to be under his command. Of course he did not care about Max’s wishes.

It was much more fun to observe Max’s face changing every minute than the boring competition. Elnos, who was looking sideways at him, raised himself up.

“Sir Max.”

Elnos approached Max. The Commanders glared at Max with jealous eyes.

Why is he calling me? Embarrassed, Max thought hard. The last time Max saw Elnos was at the Crown Prince’s palace. At that time, he had told him to change the conditions of the competition almost half-threateningly, so he could not have guessed he would now pretend to be like this. Max was not a fool. He bowed his head gracefully. Of course, Elnos’ eyes clearly saw his change of heart.

“Yes, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Whoa. As I expected. I knew you’d be happy to do what I wanted.”

He could not have been pleased. He looked so haggard that everyone had asked him if he was sick. Then Elnos told him to manage his facial expression.

Oh you crazy bastard, bothering me again. Max’s mouth twitched slightly. He controlled his mind by recalling the famous Schwalnon, who could act so well. I can’t lose to such an idiot. Max grinned.

“It is the virtue that His Highness the Crown Prince gave me.”

To deal with a madman, he had to be a madman. Max sighed inwardly.

Elnos smiled softly and patted him on the shoulder. From someone else’s perspective, it would appear as if the good-hearted Prince was encouraging the hard-working Vice Commander. Really unpleasant.

“Thank you for trying so hard for the Empire.”

“I’m just doing what’s natural.”

“Haha. So I did something that wasn’t natural?”

“No way.”

There was a strange war of nerves between the two. Elnos smiled like a fox. But no emotion could be felt in his black eyes.

Max got goose bumps when he faced those ghostly eyes. He felt like there was a devil in front of him, instead of a human.

“I hope you will act wisely in the future.”

Wasn’t he the next Emperor? Under strange pressure, Max swallowed dry saliva. The air became so heavy that it was hard to breathe. Max’s legs in his chair trembled. But he did not want to lose. Max smiled with his fists clenched to the point of bleeding. He answered clearly.

“Sure.”

Elnos grinned. It was the moment he was about to open his mouth.

Boom!

“W-what’s going on?”

Dust covered the gladiator arena, causing a disturbance. Everyone covered their eyes and mouth with their hands and coughed. It was a pandemonium sight.

Max took a handkerchief out of his arms and covered Elnos’ mouth. He hated it, but he could not help it. He felt like he was doing another favor to a bad guy.

Elnos looked at the gladiator arena with a calm face. Someone was cutting a stone in the middle. It was a movement that did not seem to be human.

“P-protect the Crown Prince! It’s an enemy attack!”

Marquis Schwalnon was always consistently stupid. He ran in the direction of Elnos, shedding tears with a runny nose. Marquis Schwalnon opened his eyes wide when he saw Max covering Elnos’ mouth. He shouted to the point where the audience rang.

“No! Sir Max, what a profane act you are doing! Putting that dirty thing on His Highness’ mouth!”

Your presence seems more profane, but… Max swallowed words that he could not bear to say. He smiled softly and said.

“Commander-nim, what kind of dumbass things did you say was an enemy attack?”

“What, what?”

His expression was as smooth as possible. Max kicked a wedge before Schwalnon got angry. It was kind of a vent of anger.

“Unless suicidal, no one would make such a fuss for a surprise attack. Don’t you think so?”

Schwalnon was as dumb as a carp. In the meantime, the dense dust subsided little by little. Max looked away as he lowered his handkerchief covering Elnos’ mouth. He stared at the arena. Max’s brown eyes narrowed. Someone was moving at a tremendous speed that was hard to follow with the eyes.

“There’s a man with excellent skills.”

“E-Excellent? Hey, what do you mean? The one who caused this commotion deserves to be punished!”

Max sighed. It was because the Commander did not have eyes to see for himself. He was trying to explain it out of frustration, but Elnos laughed.

“Yeah. He has a good sense.”

Elnos touched his mouth with his hand. Showing an excellent strategy to overturn such a nasty fight. It worked much better than getting rid of bugs. The goal of this competition was to win, but it was also important to stand out in front of the leaders.

In that sense, the person who caused the disturbance did both. Standing out while showing his sense and skills different from the others. Even the rules were not violated. In a way, he had overthrown the poor rules of the gladiator tournament. There was nothing saying not to destroy the arena.

What kind of guy was he? Elnos’ black eyes shone dangerously. He stood close to the railing. Schwalnon was shouting like he was having a seizure, saying it was dangerous, but he lightly ignored it.

A black cloak came into Elnos’ eyes. Then he saw a green-haired boy and a blond boy. For a moment, Elnos covered his mouth with his hand. His shoulders were shaking as he tried to hold back the laughter that was about to burst out. Max looked at him and worried.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince. Shouldn’t you go to the temple first?”

“It’s okay. I’m fine.”

Are you losing your mind? Despite Max’s worried eyes, Elnos liked it like a child. It was definitely because of the fierce competition in the gladiator tournament.

Max understood Elnos’ reaction to some extent. Max also could not take his eyes off the gladiators in the arena. It was that interesting. Who was the man with the black cape who could move his flexible body freely and knock out three people?

The most special thing was the personality of the black cape man. He was so gentle that it was hard to believe that he was the one who caused the disturbance. He rushed to help the three fallen men on the floor and ran to the hosts.

Judging from the situation, he seemed to ask for treatment. He was the first to act like this in this bloody competition. Max was very fond of the young man. And he was disappointed at the same time. This was because those who won this competition could not be enrolled in the Imperial Elite Knights under the Imperial Palace rules. They would usually go in one of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Divisions of Imperial Knights.

There were not just one or two cases where such good-minded people went under guys like Schwalnon and changed. Please don’t join Schwalnon’s 1st Division. Max wished deeply.

*

“A-are you all right?”

The host looked at Leasis with suspicious eyes. This man won wearing an ugly black cape. In addition, it was strange to see him messing up the arena, knocking down all the men, and then worry. He seemed to have practiced giving medicine properly.

Did he have a double personality? The host nodded while glancing at Leasis.

“Don’t worry. It’s all right.”

“I’m glad…”

Leasis breathed a sigh of relief. She wanted to use healing magic, but she had to endure it because a lot of eyes were on her. Blix and Setchen came to Leasis. They raised their thumbs.

“Amazing.”

“Noona is the best!”

Noona? Blix looked at Setchen in astonishment. Then Setchen said awkwardly.

“I mean… Even if my Noona saw you, she’d say you’re the best!”

“Haha.”

Leasis looked at them and laughed. She was so happy to have had such a good experience participating in the gladiator tournament.

She laughed without knowing that her palm had been torn. Then, Blix and Setchen shouted.

“You hurt your hand!”

“What’s wrong with your hand?”

Leasis stared blankly down at her hand. Blood was dripping on the wooden sword. She hurriedly wiped the sword with her cloak.

This wooden sword was precious to Blix. She spoke in a sincere voice.

“Sorry!”

“That’s not the problem right now.”

Blix put the wooden sword down and wrapped a bandage around her hand. He was more skillful than most healers. A small bottle came out of his arms. It was a bottle full of white powder. He opened the lid and sprayed some on the bandage.

It was different from magic, but the wound slowly healed. It was like a healing agent made by grinding herbs. Leasis bowed with gratitude.

“Thank you, Blix-nim.”

“Don’t fight alone from now on.”

“What?”

“Hellhard-ssi. You’re weak. You get hurt like this because you’re weak.”

“That’s right. Don’t fight alone in front of me!”

Did they make a group only with crazy people? The hosts’ faces hardened as they listened to their conversation. What kind of weakness could have the person who knocked out three men in an instant?

But the two did not even care. They treated Leasis like a child.