<Eve Speed’s POV>

I returned back towards the Blood Colosseum.

In front of the entrance, there was a carriage parked in front.
A carriage that I recognize.
It belongs to the Guild Master of the Mercenary Guild.
In addition, I could also see the carriage of Duke Zuan.
Tomorrow’s duel is an important battle even for those who were on the management side.
I guess they must have some business meeting prior to the day of my duel.

[………………]

I pass through the gate and entered the Blood Colosseum.
In the edges of the Blood Colosseum, you could find a residential area.
In principle, the Blood Champions were living here.
We don’t need money here.
We even had meals provided for us.
I could even call this as special treatment towards us compared to how slaves are normally treated.
On the other hand though, it’s uncertain for us whether we could even live tomorrow.
It could be said that the Blood Champions offered their lives in exchange for gaining clothing, food and shelter.

I passed through the corridor and went into my room.
As soon as I entered, I lie down on my bed.
Lying there, I blankly stare at the ceiling.

(This uneasiness… It won’t disappear.)

It’s not because tomorrow is my final duel.
The cause is quite obvious.
It’s about that guy, Hati.
That story of a Blood Champion killed the day after he gained his freedom.
A person who fought to redeem his freedom…

(It’s similar to mine… The story of a dead Blood Champion who had hopes like mine…)

Is everything just a plot?
So that Duke Zuan could get his hands on that girl.

The light of suspicion began encroaching everything into the darkness.

(He had also been talking about that girl once in a while.)

“I can’t help but look forward towards that child’s growth.”
“Well~ I’m looking forward for the future.”
“However, I’m just worrying about you.”
“It’s good enough right now. However, you should think about the time when you’d eventually have to be independent from her.”
“Wouldn’t you say that I’m a man that you could trust?”

I haven’t given it much thought before.

(However…)

I can’t help but feel uneasy with these things I’ve remembered.
Closing my eyes, I tried looking away from these doubts I’m feeling.

(Don’t be deceived… This must be some kind of fraud that man used to get the information about the witch…)

That man named Hati.
He’s quite a mysterious man.
I can’t really say that he’s quite polite.
You could even say that the Duke’s speech and conduct is more polite than his.

(Though I say that, why is it that I feel that the actions of that man named Hati is more sincere…)

Startled with my own thoughts, I started thinking again.

(That’s stupid.)

Isn’t the duke keeping his promise even until now?
Moreover, I have made great contributions to the Duke.
I had given him huge profits as my owner.

(I’ve fulfilled my obligations to my owner more than enough. He should be satisfied already. He should be feeling compassion for me for the contributions I had made…)

“Isn’t it that you’re throwing those words to yourself?”

Hati’s question just now.
There were some changes in my words in the middle of our conversion.
I had only noticed later.
The people I believed in.

Duke Zuan.
Mercenary Guild.

I had first spoken those two names.
However, it was replaced later by another words along our conversation.

(Yeah… I just noticed that I had inadvertently replaced it with the “world of duels”. It’s neither Duke Zuan nor the Mercenary Guild.)

I change my lying posture and laid on my side.

(Deep inside my heart, I’ve never believed in the Duke nor the Mercenary Guild— Is that how it is?)

The  uneasiness in my heart still won’t subside.
On the contrary, it’s becoming larger as time goes by.

Just living peacefully.

(Is that so much for me to hope for…?)

A future filled with happiness which I have been dreaming of.

(Together with that little girl, living in peace and quiet… I don’t want to fight anymore…)

Fighting to entertain the audience.
Fighting as a show.
The more brutal you are when you killed your opponent, the more delighted the audience would be.
I would get a lot of money proportional to my actions.
However, I couldn’t feel any pride as a warrior anymore.

(I was only able to keep fighting until now because of her existence.)

I would have committed suicide long ago.
My pride as a warrior of the were-leopards has long disappeared.

I’m just a warrior who had became a clown.

However, it’s good enough.
I’ve already resolved myself into this and kept on fighting.

(However, if that guy… If the Duke were aiming at that child—-)

I can’t help but be sick of this.
I know that my mind would be chaotic.
I just tightly closed my eyes and hoped that I could sleep away my worries.
However, drowsiness wouldn’t come at all.
I already know the reason.

[……………..]

(These doubts, I have to make it disappear.)

Raising my body out of my bed, I quietly left my room.

▽

I am now in the corridor on the second floor of the Blood Colosseum.
The residence of Duke Zuan is located on the second floor.
There’s a man standing alone in front of the Duke’s room.
He’s my captain, Costello.
He’s Duke Zuan’s trusted retainer.
A man with an iron-like impression.
I heard that he killed anyone who went against the Duke.
He was also one of the people that the citizens wished to see as my final opponent.
In other words, he’s a very strong warrior.
There are no presence of other people around here.

[…………….]

With Costello standing guard in front, I can’t get close to the door.
I leaned my back at the corner of the corridor.
This place isn’t visible from where Costello stands.

This place is still a bit far from the Duke’s room.

However, I could still hear their conversation inside that room without any problem.

Were-leopards have better ears than humans.
If I concentrate enough, I would be able to hear into a room, even if it were away.
Thanks to these ears, it’s also easy for me to sense the presence of humans.
It was also thanks to my ears that I’ve noticed that Hati and his partner were tailing me.

(Well, it seems that they’ve already knew that I’ve noticed they’re tailing me.)

[……………]

Why am I even in this place?

I can’t help but ask myself.
That’s right— I want to confirm it.
Whether I could really trust the Duke or the Guild.
At first, I thought of just going into the room and directly ask them myself.
Can I really be freed if I were to win tomorrow?
I planned on asking that.
However, I didn’t.
Because I don’t think they would tell me the truth.

(I’m already… doubtful of him and the Mercenary Guild…)

Slightly astonished at my own thoughts, I concentrate my consciousness on my ears.
I heard some conversation in the room.
For some time, I listened to their conversations.
I can’t find any suspicious content in them.
Most of them seems to be finishing touches about the event tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s opponent seems to be a bit strong, but there’s no problem with that.
I had already expected that the management would prepare a strong opponent for my duel.

(Fuuu…)

They’re not planning any schemes at all.
I could feel the uneasiness within my heart disappearing.
Relieved, I was about to leave but…

[By the way— Are you certain that Eve Speed would die as we planned?]

Pause.

My feet stops.

[Of course. Just as we planned, we will be giving her a paralyzing drug before her duel.] (T/N: anesthesia)

The Duke answered towards the Guild Master.

[Fufufu, making her drink that on the ritual before the final duel, the “Purification Sakazuki”… That’s really a great idea.]

Purification Sakazuki.

It’s a ritual performed by drinking a cup of alcohol before their final duel.
Violently moving around after drinking alcohol slows down their thought process.
It’s easy to lose your life in your final duel.
It is said that it’s because of the effect of alcohol.
However, it’s an already established ritual that can’t be rejected.
It wouldn’t be a problem if it’s just alcohol.
I have confidence in my alcohol tolerance.
However, it looks like they’re not making me drink alcohol.

(So, they’re mixing in a drug huh…)

I could feel all of my fur standing up.

[It’s important that you lighten the dosage of that paralysis drug for a bit. If she would be paralyzed too much, the audience may notice that something’s out of place.]

[What the audience wants to see is pure death without any kinds of tricks… If they were to discover our tricks, I doubt that they’d generously loosen the strings of their purses. Good grief, even those slightly richer citizens would become quite troublesome.]

[Did Eve really have no intention to keep going as a Blood Champion?]

[I already tried talking her into it but… she said she wants to quit as she rejected me. She keeps on saying all these kind of bullsh*t like “I can’t keep on doing these kind of fights” or “I feel like sh*t”. She’s completely screwing around with me.]

[It’s such a waste… There are hardly any Blood Champions who knows how to please the audience.]

[I think it’s because she’s really strong that she could afford to fight like that. No, it’s probably because I had pampered her too much. Hah… Even though I prepared a place for that dirty subhuman to shine, to think that she’d be ungrateful…]

[After all is said and done, she’s still just a beast.]

[Nevertheless, it’s because she’s a beast that she had a lot of uses.]