Chapter 31: The Gladiator
The White Iliana, after loading its cargo at the port of Ochakiv in the Principality of Kievan Rus’, began its return voyage.
Hearing that the Emperor of the Empire had been defeated at Manzikert, shipping orders to the Black Sea immediately surged dozens of times. Astute merchants had predicted that the southern trade route from Asia Minor via the Iranian plateau would definitely be cut off by the Seljuk Empire.
The only route that could maintain normal trade with the Dragon Kingdom in the east was the Sarmatian-Mongolian steppe route north of the Black Sea.
This route was too far north, so it could only be run in the summer. When winter came and the roads were blocked by heavy snow, the trucks basically couldn’t move.
The Principality of Kievan Rus’ didn’t seem to have the money to spread snowmelt on the roads, not to mention that the Mongolian steppe was full of nomadic tribes running around. If they couldn’t survive the winter, they would squat by the roadside and rob, so this trade route would inevitably be interrupted in the winter.
Therefore, they had to stock up quickly while it was still summer.
The nobles of the Principality of Kievan Rus’ were also very cunning. They somehow learned of the Empire’s defeat, so these Skolabor lord nobles, clad in animal furs, ordered their serfs to set up numerous tax checkpoints on the roads in their territories, so much so that the price of fur exported from Kievan Rus’ tripled.
The shipowner roughly calculated that this trade could only barely break even, which was a waste of time.
If it weren’t for carrying a wealthy mercenary group, this trip to the Black Sea would have been a complete loss. The depressed shipowner ordered the ship to return, praying silently that the mercenary group that had landed on the mysterious island could survive.
Then he could earn another 5 pounds.
“What!” The shipowner, who had been holding onto a glimmer of hope, was devastated when he learned from the lookout that the mysterious island had disappeared again. “Impossible! Such a big… such a big island! How could it disappear? Did our course deviate?”
“Captain, even if you don’t believe the compass and the sextant, you should believe the GPS on our ship, right?” The navigator said with a wry smile.
The shipowner leaned against the ship’s side dejectedly, having to admit that the navigator’s judgment was correct. After all, that mysterious island could appear out of thin air on the Black Sea, so naturally it could also disappear out of thin air on the Black Sea… It was just a pity that he couldn’t earn that 5 pounds.
Just when his mood hit rock bottom, a red signal flare suddenly rose in the distance. The shipowner’s mood immediately lifted, as if the winter snow had finally melted, and his whole spirit was invigorated.
“Quick, quick, quick, head over there!” He shouted, pointing in the direction of the signal flare.
As the merchant ship approached, the sailors on board finally saw a small boat, floating on the sea and drifting with the current. The five people on the boat were sitting in a circle, whispering something.
“I’m the Seer.” Nuo said, “I saw the Captain’s identity last night, the Captain is a Werewolf.”
“No, I’m the Seer.” Asker said seriously, “I saw Nuo’s identity last night, Nuo is a Werewolf.”
“I can’t tell who’s lying at all!!!” Eleanor cried out, hugging Peggy next to her tearfully.
“I think Asker is the Werewolf.” Peggy, who was being hugged, said calmly.
“Why?” Asker asked calmly.
“Intuition.” Peggy replied.
“Please speak in order, Asker, you have already spoken.” Medea, who was sitting next to them as the judge, said languidly. On the one hand, her spirituality was still recovering from the damage, and on the other hand, her own mental ability… playing Werewolf was cheating.
“Then I vote for Asker.” Eleanor said.
“I also vote for Asker.” Nuo said.
“Okay, the Werewolf has been killed, game over.” Medea said boredly.
“Yay!” Nuo and Eleanor high-fived excitedly and started cheering with Peggy.
“It’s too easy to play Werewolf with four people.” Asker said, “After we go back, I’m going to start thinking about expanding the team.”
“According to the four professions we talked about before?” Nuo flipped through her little notebook. “Thief, armor-piercing warrior, gunman, and Arcane Mage.”
“That’s right.” Asker looked at the merchant ship sailing towards them. “Our ride back is here.”
Two sailors jumped into the sea from the ship’s side, swam to the small boat, and secured the four sides of the small boat with steel cables with hooks. The sailors on board started the machine and pulled the small boat up with a grunt.
“God, you actually came back alive!” The shipowner gave Asker an excited hug, for the sake of the 5 pound bill.
“Don’t ask me where that mysterious island went.” Asker joked.
“Of course, of course, we don’t care about supernatural events.” The shipowner took the 5 pound bill Asker handed him and put it away with satisfaction.
At 3 p.m., the White Iliana arrived at the Golden Horn pier. After saying goodbye to the shipowner, they set foot on the land of Constantinople again.
Then they took the subway across the Galata Bridge, came to the main city of Constantinople, and got off at the subway station near the Mercenary Guild.
“The mission targets are all dead.” Entering the Mercenary Guild, Asker came to the counter and said directly to the receptionist.
“Did you collect the remains of the target characters?” The receptionist asked with a polite smile. “If there are no remains, I’m afraid we can’t pay you.”
“No, because they all sank to the bottom of the sea.” Asker said, “Therefore, you can also tell the mission publisher that no one will be able to find these targets.”
“Understood, the guild will negotiate with the mission publisher. If the publisher is willing to cancel the mission, then this time it will not be counted as a failure for your team. Please complete the submission of this mission in the APP first.” The receptionist said.
Asker nodded and walked out of the Mercenary Guild. He said to the four girls waiting there:
“Okay, let’s go home.”
“Home!” The girls almost burst into tears. Although the adventure on the deserted island in the Black Sea was very exciting, after a day and night of fighting, what they craved most now was a hot bath, a cooked dinner, and a warm bed.
It was already 6 p.m. when they returned to Asker’s ancestral home. The girls took turns bathing in the bathroom and changed into comfortable and soft clothes. Asker bought food from outside, so they had dinner in the study on the third floor.
“How is the digestion of your transcendental power going?” Asker asked casually.
“I’ve digested some.” Nuo replied.
“One-fourth.” Eleanor said.
“I’m almost done digesting it all.” Peggy said.
Medea stirred her salad listlessly. Her level 2 potion had long been digested, and what she lacked now were the materials for the Desire I potion, so she didn’t say much.
“You can go to the Paradise Mountain plane fragment to cultivate in the future.” Asker said, “I will draw up a training plan for this. But I have to go out tomorrow to recruit new members, so you can rest for now.”
He threw the book “Absurd Dreams” to Nuo: “Explore its usage with spirituality, it’s easy to get started.”
“Are you giving this to me for safekeeping?” Nuo asked suspiciously. Logically speaking, such a precious transcendental item that sealed a plane should be carried by the leader in any organization.
“Yes.” Asker said, “Anyway, you are also in charge of finances, so I’ll leave the procurement and warehousing to you as well, Team Administrator Miss Nuo.”
“Okay.” Nuo nodded, her heart filled with the warmth of being trusted, and a strange feeling of butterflies in her stomach.
…
The night passed.
The next morning, Asker washed up, didn’t wear armor or weapons, just put on a comfortable close-fitting outfit, and went out refreshed.
Coming to the Grand Arena of Constantinople, he walked to the reception counter and knocked on the table.
Behind the counter was a languid middle-aged man, who yawned and said:
“You’re late, the next gladiatorial fight will start in half an hour, the betting window is already closed.”
“I’m not here to bet.” Asker said with a smile, “I’m here to sign up for the team gladiatorial fight.”
“Oh.” The middle-aged man widened his eyes and looked at this young man who didn’t know the immensity of heaven and earth. “Then fill out an application form.”
He took out several documents from the cabinet next to him and slapped them in front of Asker. One was a basic information application form, one was a temporary gladiatorial employment contract, and the other was a disclaimer agreement:
Gladiatorial applicants voluntarily participate in the gladiatorial fight and are fully aware of the dangers of gladiatorial combat. The organizers of the arena are not responsible for any injuries or deaths that occur in the arena.
Asker didn’t bother to read it carefully, he just filled in everything that needed to be filled in, signed his name, pressed his fingerprint, and pushed it back to the middle-aged man.
“Let me see.” The middle-aged man checked the documents. “Asker Lepidus Achilles, your name… are you an imperial noble?”
“Can’t nobles participate in gladiatorial fights?” Asker asked with a smile.
“Of course they can.” The middle-aged man muttered something and said, “Anyway, once you’re in the arena, everything is decided by the sword. This agreement has been certified by the church, you can still back out now if you regret it.”
“Don’t wait until you get your arm chopped off in the arena and then come back and make trouble, it will be embarrassing for everyone.”
“Just follow the normal procedure.” Asker said lightly.
Seeing that the other party wouldn’t listen to his advice, the middle-aged man sighed, skillfully stamped the documents with a seal, and said:
“Now there is one vacancy in the red team. Go straight ahead and turn right, the first door is the red team’s lounge, including rest, training, and equipment are all there, you won’t miss it.”
“By the way, the leader of the red team is a tough Thracian heavy armored warrior named Theotis, nicknamed ‘Brown Bear.’ He may be… not very friendly to you.”
“Not very friendly?” Asker asked, “Why?”
“Listen.” The middle-aged man sat up straight. “There are a maximum of 9 people on each side of the team duel, any more will affect the viewing experience of the fight. The red team has always been full, but today someone asked for leave and there is a vacancy, it happens to be the younger brother of Theotis, the leader of the red team.”
“Our arena doesn’t recognize asking for leave. Since you’re not coming today, someone else will take your place.”
“So, by signing up today, I took the place of Theotis’ younger brother?” Asker said leisurely. “Even if he comes back tomorrow, he won’t be able to return to the arena?”
“To be precise, he won’t be able to return to the red team.” The middle-aged man corrected him. “Unless you die in today’s fight, leaving a vacancy in the red team.”
“Hmm, although there is no evidence, there have always been rumors among the gladiators that Theotis secretly killed a teammate in the fight in order to get his younger brother into his team… Of course, we have no evidence, otherwise we would politely ask him to get out.”
“I understand.” Asker nodded.
“Not considering coming back tomorrow?” The middle-aged man confirmed again.
“Too much trouble.” Asker shook his head. “Let’s just do this.”
“Suit yourself.” The middle-aged man leaned back in his chair and lazily put his feet up on the counter.
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