Chapter 15

“Wahahahaha!”

Drunken laughter filled the banquet hall. The governor and nobles of the city had invited the gladiators to liven up their entertainment.

“The people loved your matches today, Horus. It was a great tournament,” the governor praised Horus. It was another success for the gladiatorial tournament in this new city, and the Horus Gladiators were yet again the standouts.

“It’s all thanks to the blessing of the Count,” Horus humbly replied. He was well aware of how to behave to be in favor of the higher-ups.

“Oh my, look at that body.”

“I can’t even see my husband’s thing because it’s buried under his belly.”

The noble ladies chattered with their fans covering their mouths as they admired the gladiators’ well-defined bodies. The ones who left their husbands at home were going to be bedding with their favorite gladiators later that night.

“Hah, what a night,” Urich chattered away along with the other gladiators as he enjoyed the food and drinks at the table. The nobles were quite generous to the victors of the tournament.

“You must be Urich, the one who beat five men all by himself!” One of the nobles said as he recognized Urich from his famous match. Since then, his name has traveled far and wide. As he was entering the third month of his new gladiator life, there were always people recognizing him in the cities.

“I am indeed Urich!” Urich raised his glass as he laughed.

“I thoroughly enjoyed your match, you were amazing! How about you show me your axe skills? Do you think you can do that for us?” the noble said excitedly. He then placed an apple on the servant’s head.

“U-uhh...” the servant who was leaning against the wall with an apple on his head trembled in fear. The noble heartlessly scolded him to stay still so that the apple would stay in place.

“Don’t move, Urich’s going to throw his axe! Don’t worry about your head cracking in two—he’s the master of axe-throwing, hahaha!”

The noble’s words made the banquet hall even more lively. All eyes were on Urich’s axe.

“Pff, if you really want to see how good I am, sure!” the drunken Urich got up from his seat. He took the axe that he had left with a guard.

Woosh, woosh.

Urich spun the axe in his hand. His fingers were nimble and moved delicately, even in his drunkenness.

“U-ughhhh.” The helpless servant looked at the blade of Urich’s axe as he trembled.

“Hey, your head will actually crack into two if you keep moving like that. Just close your eyes, and don’t even think about dodging my axe,” Urich said with annoyance. The servant then hesitantly closed his eyes as Urich said.

“Urich! Urich! Urich!” The nobles clapped their hands and chanted his name.

“I see the people here know how to have some fun, hahaha!” Urich was having a good time.

He was the best axe-thrower even back in the Stone Axe Tribe. It required an immense mastery of the skill as it was very difficult to get the blade and hilt to land where one wanted them to. If the throw was sloppy, the hilt could hit the enemy and ruin the whole weapon.

“Hmph.”

Urich got into his stance as he exhaled lightly. The nobles held their breath as they stared at Urich and his axe, and the banquet hall became silent.

‘The distance is about... 10 steps.’

After eyeing the distance to the apple, he cocked his shoulder. As his muscles rumbled the axe left the tip of his fingers.

Crush!

The whole room stayed silent. The splintered apple fell to the floor in two perfect halves and the servant dropped to the floor in one piece. The axe was stuck deep in the wall.

“Wonderful, wonderful!”

Clap! Clap! Clap!

The room erupted in applause. Urich retrieved his axe from the wall and shrugged as if he had just done nothing special.

“T-thank you, sir!” The servant expressed his gratitude and relief, still trembling from the leftover fear for his life. After all, he almost died for the sake of some rich people’s entertainment.

“Don’t mention it.” Urich helped the poor servant up and patted him on his back. The servant was about to go back to his station with his back drenched in nervous sweat.

“Stop right there.” A young noble grabbed the servant.

“What’s wrong, Trios?” The governor asked the young noble.

“My champion is also quite talented at handling his axe. I would like to show you what he can do.”

Trios was one of the nobles who sent his champion to the gladiatorial tournaments.

“Hmm, your competitive spirit is sometimes a bit too much.”

“It’s only for our entertainment. There’s no way my champion can’t do what this average gladiator just did. Mogdi!” Trios called over his champion. A copper-skinned man stepped out of the crowd.

“You called, Master.”

Mogdi was a southerner. He battled in gladiatorial tournaments to satisfy the entertainment needs of his master Trios.

“You know what to do, right? Get your axe ready. No way my champion can’t do what this random gladiator can,” Trios said arrogantly as he picked up another apple from the table.

“Master, but this is...” Mogdi was visibly hesitant. He had been watching Urich closely.

‘Judging by what I’ve seen at the arena, and even just now, he is far more skilled with the axe than I am.’

Mogdi did not have a single bit of confidence in the possibility that he could best Urich.

“Are you going to humiliate me, Mogdi?” Trios approached Mogdi and whispered under his breath. Mogdi swallowed hard.

‘Damn you, you unnecessarily competitive child!’

Mogdi was about to lose his mind over his young master, but Trios was an extremely wealthy noble with a massive inheritance that he spent like it was nothing.

“Oh?” Urich became intrigued and leaned against a wall to observe what was about to happen. He looked at Mogdi with a faint smile as the other nobles began to wonder if Trios’ champion could really do what Urich had just shown them.

‘Eh, no way anyone here can throw an axe better than me.’

Urich took pride in his skills—especially when it came down to the axe. He was confident that he would never lose to anyone in an axe-throwing competition.

“Eeek,” the helpless servant put yet another apple on top of his head. Mogdi’s nervousness was so intense that it had infected the poor servant as well.

‘Well, that’s not gonna be good.’

Anyone with the instincts of a warrior saw right through Mogdi.

‘His master is forcing him to throw his axe. Looks like that servant could actually die.’

Urich had the confidence of someone who had mastered his skill. No one was a better thrower than him. Nobody could find even a hint of that confidence in Mogdi as he prepared himself for the throw.

“Mogdi!” Trios rushed his champion.

‘I guess I have to leave this up to Lady Fortune.’

Mogdi launched his axe toward the apple. It was just an average axe used for splitting firewood that wasn’t even familiar to his hands.

Woosh.

“A-ahhhhhh!”

The servant screeched as he dropped to the ground. The axe had landed on his shoulder, and the floor around him soon became covered in his blood.

“We all saw that coming. Consider yourself lucky that it didn’t crack his head.” Urich laughed as he clicked his tongue in judgment. He had noticed Mogdi’s unstable stance even before he wound up for his unsuccessful throw.

“Ehem,” the Governor cleared his throat to express his discomfort. Trios’ stubbornness had completely killed the mood of the party. The banquet music had slowed down and a few of the nobles were trying to be on their way out.

“Mogdi, how dare you embarrass me like that?” Trios dumped his shame onto Mogdi as he grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. Mogdi could only stare at the floor.

“My apologies, Master,” Trios shoved Mogdi to the side and glared at the innocent Urich and Horus.

“You, leader, what was your name again?”

“It’s Horus, Sir Trios.”

“Why don’t we fair our fighters against each other, right now, with their axes? It’ll be a nice little entertainment for the nobles.”

On any other day, the nobles in the banquet hall would have exploded in cheer and encouragement, but the banquet hall had already seen a terrifying blood spill from the earlier incident.

“I-I’m not so sure about that,” it was a difficult request for Horus.

‘This kid’s a pain in the ass,’ Horus thought as he kept his politeness toward the young noble.

The governor, who had been observing the situation, cleared his throat loudly.

“Ehem! It seems like we’re nearing the end of the night. Trios, you better head out.” The words of the governor were practically a banishment for him. Trios’ face boiled red in a mix of emotions. He bit down on his lower lip as he trembled his fists.

“Urich, you should head back now,” Horus suggested to Urich as he poked his side.

“Why? It sounded fun to me.”

Horus expressed his annoyance at Urich who was chuckling raggedly.

“I want you to get back to our quarters, Urich.”

“Okay, okay, I hear you, Leader. No need to frown like that, hah!” Urich left the room with a glass in his hand. The vibrant atmosphere of the banquet hall had dissipated, and everyone chattered on about Trios’ foolishness.

All the invited guests had left, and only the governor and his entourage remained in the room.

“That Trios. He already ruined his father’s business, and he still hasn’t straightened up.”

“I hear he still has quite a bit of wealth left.”

“Hah, I even thought about betrothing him to my second daughter.”

The entourages chuckled.

“A man like him does more harm than good. It’s good to avoid being associated with him in any way.”

The governor nodded in agreement.

“From now on, don’t bother sending out the banquet invitations to Trios.”

“As you wish, Governor.”

The entourages bowed and retreated.