The Slave's Debut
After that, Liscal truly left Muslan alone. The other slaves in the same cell returned every day utterly exhausted, while Muslan remained alone inside the prison.
Thanks to that, an opportunity arose. A chance to confirm whether gi existed in this world. If gi existed, he could learn martial arts. So Muslan quietly closed his eyes and tried to sense the energy. Fortunately, gi existed here as well.
But there was a problem. If the gi of the murim world was like a gentle breeze that came peacefully, the gi of this world was like violently crashing waves. It meant handling gi would be extremely difficult.
Creating a dantian in a short time will be tough.
If he had formed a dantian, things would have been easier, but Muslan had not been able to do so. He still struggled to fully adapt to the raging gi of this world.
Muslan set forming a dantian as his first goal. Fundamentally, having the strength to protect himself would broaden his options. Especially in a world where high-ranking individuals had a hobby of turning people into taxidermy specimens. Therefore, it was important to prepare countermeasures quickly. One of those countermeasures was the dantian.
Moreover, his first match was only a few days away. He still did not know the level of combat in this world. It would be good if he could form a dantian by then, but the probability was low. So Muslan sought another method.
He could not enter the arena without any information. First, he needed to gather intelligence. But where could he collect it?
Perhaps because of what Liscal the slave manager had said, no one interfered with him, and no one even glanced his way. The only people he saw regularly were the other slaves in the same situation, but the problem was that they always left in the morning and returned in the evening completely drained.
Above all, they were in the same position as Muslan. Dragged from foreign lands as slaves and forced to train. They likely knew just as little as he did.
“Excuse me…”
So he found another way.
When the slaves left for training, a woman would enter to clean the prison. She had short hair and wore ragged clothes, but there was no hiding the fact that she was female. She would enter and silently clean without a word. She never looked at Muslan and never came near him. Because she always kept her head bowed low, he had never properly seen her face.
“?”
When the woman heard Muslan’s voice, she turned her gaze. Their eyes met. The moment their eyes met, the woman’s expression turned startled, and she quickly lowered her head again.
Is she mute?
“Can you not speak?”
“……”
“Is that the case?”
“……”
“You cannot speak?”
After three repeated questions, the woman acted as if she had not heard him and continued cleaning in silence.
“Were you speaking to me?”
The woman raised her head. She was closer to a girl than a woman. She was quite beautiful. A slender jaw, a straight nose, and large, moist eyes.
Heterochromia?
Her right eye was blue, and her left eye was green. The sight was so mystical that it looked as if jewels had been embedded there. Only then could Muslan understand why the odd-eyed girl always walked with her head bowed.
The answer lay within Muslan’s memories. In this world, heterochromia was synonymous with misfortune. Even with such a beautiful appearance, she would not have been able to walk with her head held high.
“That is correct.”
“I… I am…”
The girl’s voice trembled slightly. It sounded slightly hoarse, likely because she had not spoken properly for several days. She had never been in a position to converse with anyone.
In this world, having different colored eyes signified both misfortune and impurity. It was a superstition, but people believed such eyes appeared when one was born with multiple fathers.
Because of this, the girl had lived receiving even worse treatment than the slaves. Even the slaves considered speaking to her taboo and avoided approaching her. She was treated like an untouchable.
An interesting fact was that because of people’s perception, she had survived until now. Slaves who became useless in the arena were mercilessly discarded, but she was an exception. Even the executioners avoided laying a blade on her body, so she was able to survive by doing menial tasks here. An irony that she could live because she was considered the most unclean.
“I do not care about such things.”
“B… but…”
“Help me. If you help me, I will help you as well.”
“What kind of…”
“I want to know how to leave this place.”
“You cannot escape. You will be caught.”
“I am asking how to be freed from slave status.”
“?”
At that, the odd-eyed girl blinked her large eyes for a moment before speaking.
“There is a way for that.”
“What method is it?”
“Win and buy your own freedom.”
The girl’s voice gradually improved. It was not clear, but it carried strength. She spoke quite well. Her eyes sparkled, and her expression became natural. Though she was rejected in this world as “cross-eyed” or “dirty blood,” her appearance was beautiful enough that she could have been an entertainer in the modern world where Muslan had previously lived.
“How many times must I win?”
“Many times. A great many. But there is a way to reduce that number.”
Her eyes shone brightly for a brief moment. Muslan knew he had found the right person to ask.
“I am Muslan. What is your name?”
“……”
“You have no name?”
It was not strange even if she had no name.
“When the day comes that we leave this place, I will give you a name.”
The odd-eyed girl was thirteen years old, exactly as young as she appeared. She was two years younger than Muslan’s current age. Since adulthood in this world was based on sixteen years, it meant she had not yet reached adulthood.
The information the girl gave Muslan was plentiful. And extremely useful. Thanks to it, he could see the path to surviving in this place.
“Do not tell anyone that you spoke with me.”
“Does even that become a problem?”
“Yes… Liscal especially dislikes me. He will not even come near.”
“That is hard to understand.”
“Are you really all right with me? Even after seeing my eyes, you feel nothing?”
“I do.”
“……”
The girl fell silent.
“Your eyes are very beautiful.”
“!”
Many emotions appeared on the girl’s face at those words.
“Let us leave together. I will make it happen. And I will ensure no one can speak about those eyes.”
Instead of answering, the girl smiled brightly. It was a beautiful smile.
Yet Muslan understood the meaning contained within that smile. She did not believe him. But she was grateful.
Even after recognizing the meaning in her smile, Muslan was not disappointed. The girl’s reaction was natural. Muslan had shown nothing. He had only spoken a few words. From the girl’s perspective, there was no guarantee that Muslan would even survive his first match. That was why she smiled that way.
“You must survive no matter what.”
With those words, the girl lowered her head deeply again, wrapped her face with cloth, and left.
After the girl departed, Muslan organized his plan. First, escaping slave status was the urgent priority. The fortunate point was that popularity was extremely important even in this arena.
First, gain popularity.
“Uwek!”
“Stupid brat. You could not even throw a proper punch.”
A bloodied young slave entered. Seeing Liscal’s anger, it seemed the match had been disastrous. His eyes were so swollen he could barely open them, and many teeth were missing. His face was damaged beyond recognition. The atmosphere in the room instantly turned grave.
Even in that situation, Liscal swung his whip at the bloodied slave.
Crack! Crack!
The slave screamed and writhed. But he had no strength to resist.
After swinging the whip twice, Liscal looked at Muslan with a hardened expression.
“Muslan! It is your match now. If you do not want to end up like that, you had better struggle as much as you can. If you want to live, as you said.”
Liscal gave a crooked smile.
Muslan followed Liscal toward the arena.
Click.
Liscal removed the shackles from his feet.
Not a sand pit.
He had expected a colosseum, but it was not sand. The floor was stone. If it was not sand, he needed to revise his strategy. Fighting on stone ground could easily cause injuries.
It was structured so that one ascended from the basement to the arena, and iron bars were densely placed. Inside, fighters of various appearances could be seen. Were they gladiator slaves? Or warriors?
According to the odd-eyed girl, if one achieved some results in matches, the privilege of watching matches was also granted. That meant the people waiting inside while watching matches were those who had produced decent results.
His eyes went to them as well, but Muslan first examined the floor. Though well-maintained, it was stone. Very hard stone. In that case, even a simple throw could cause serious injury.
Everything else was as expected. Numerous spectators were shouting at the appearance of the contestants. The noise was deafening.
The match Muslan would fight was boxing. A rule where one could only attack with fists.
“Clench your fists tightly. If you do not want to die without even landing a proper hit.”
It was Liscal’s words. Muslan lightly brushed off Liscal’s advice. When it came to fighting, he was the expert.
“The slave who was once the crown prince of the Maran Kingdom! Muslan!”
The host, using amplification magic, introduced Muslan. Then, from the opposite entrance, his opponent walked out. The moment he saw his opponent’s appearance, a hollow laugh escaped him.
That is supposed to be a teenager? I would believe it if they said thirty.
He was shorter than Muslan. Instead, his build was incomparable. He looked as if he had done bodybuilding; his entire body was muscular. Despite a slightly youthful face, he even had an M-shaped receding hairline, making it impossible to see him as someone of the same age.
Still, I should be able to earn some money.
Earn money quickly and escape slave status. For that, the stronger the opponent, the better. The stronger the opponent, the more brilliant the victory would appear.
Right now, Muslan’s mind was filled with nothing but escaping slave status as quickly as possible. And fortunately, the arena was also a good opportunity.
The spectators love comeback victories the most, right?
Turn the tables and gain popularity in an instant. The public’s psychology was not much different from modern martial arts competitions.
That was why he could easily understand the odd-eyed girl’s explanation. What points to target to gain popularity quickly, and how to act to escape slave status quickly.
“Now go out!”
Liscal gave him a light push on the back. Hot sunlight poured down. His first match had begun.