To the Colosseum
After that, Marin and I kept at it, over and over again.
Embracing that slender body of hers time and time again. Thrusting in, pounding away, indulging myself in her, on and on.
Sizzle!
How many times is this now?
We'd been going at it so relentlessly I'd lost count entirely. All I could do was guess that we'd easily blown past the double digits.
“Solis, no more?”
Marin lay on the bed, staring straight at me. Her pale skin was smeared and sticky with semen.
Her eyes were glazed over like someone who'd lost consciousness, yet there was still a stubborn will to keep going in her voice. It was violent enough that anyone walking in would have mistaken it for a crime scene rather than something consensual.
“That's it for today. Let's go wash up.”
“Okay.”
Managing my condition was non-negotiable. The midterm exams started tomorrow, and I'd rather not be groaning about a night of sex while trying to take them. This was the right place to stop, so I led her to the bathroom.
Splash!
“Whew... that hits the spot.”
After rinsing off the sweat and grime under the shower, we sank together into the hot water waiting in the tub.
“Nothing beats a bath after sex, I swear.”
“So warm.”
Marin sank so deep into the steaming bathwater that only her nose stayed above the surface. I watched her blow bubbles and slosh around, playing with the froth.
She's cute.
It was like raising a slightly clueless little sister, I supposed. Not an idiot, exactly—more like someone socially clumsy who just never managed to click with other people.
“You happy?”
“Yeah. It feels nice. This is my first time bathing with someone else.”
“Haha, so I'm your first? Well, that's flattering.”
That line was supposed to be Eva's to hear first—the heroine of Academy Yuri Princess. But whatever. Doesn't matter.
Let the protagonist, who fell head over heels for Chloe, confessed on the spot, and is now living lovey-dovey with her, go reflect on herself somewhere. How could anyone's taste in people be that terrible? Honestly, tsk tsk.
“Have you bathed with other people before, Solis?”
“Me? All the time. With my dad, with the neighbors, everyone.”
That would be Korea's famously communal bathing culture. Public bathhouses and neighborhood saunas had long since made sharing a scrub-down a way of life back home—washing together, scrubbing each other's backs, staying clean as a community. That, uh, what was it again—wooh... no wait, COVID hit the industry hard, places closed one after another, which was a real shame, but still.
“So you have. With other people, I mean.”
“Yeah, I—wait. I know what you're getting at, but please choose your words more carefully.”
One misunderstanding and the golden sun who loves devouring women could pull off the magic trick of turning into a incestuous gay mutant enjoying homo sex, thank you very much.
“I'm jealous. You got to be around people like it was nothing. I never could.”
Marin gently rested her head against my chest. Behind her damp, swaying hair, I felt the weight of her—the weight was slight, but everything she'd lived through was packed inside it.
“All I ever wanted was for someone to notice me. To wave back when I waved, to answer when I spoke.”
“After Grandpa passed, I was so lonely. Then you found me, Solis. Eva noticed me, and Chloe, and Arlan too.”
“I'm happy. Truly.”
The words poured out of her like a burst dam. All the grief she'd never been able to share with anyone, finally confessed to the person closest to her now.
“...”
I stayed silent. I knew her circumstances, but I refused to trot out some hypocritical line about how I understood.
It was true I'd experienced her life secondhand through the pages of a book—but claiming that meant I knew her entire life from start to finish would be a lie.
So instead—
Squeeze!
I pulled her tight against me, wrapping her up in my arms so that we could share as much of this warmth, this closeness, as possible.
And so we lingered in the bath for a long while, letting the peaceful silence play like background music, slowly easing our hearts back into shape.
The next day, after spending the night at the hotel, we moved locations at the direction of the instructor leading the academy students.
“Everyone, line up and move out in order, please!”
“Waaaah!”
Herding the kids onto the bus was apparently a job in itself. Our instructor Sylvia was shouting herself hoarse, hurrying along a crowd of energetic academy students chattering away among themselves. Hang in there, Instructor Sylvia.
“Um, where are we going now?”
“Who knows? They only told us the scope of the written portion of the midterms. For the practical, they don't tell you anything until it starts.”
Seated together in nearby seats on the bus, our group chatted about everything and nothing. The topic, naturally, was the upcoming midterm practical exam. Everyone was dying to know what the test would involve, so the subject dominated every conversation.
“Right? They could tell us a little early and it wouldn't kill them.”
“...Hey. Rude much? Why are you even sitting here?”
Chloe, who'd been trading banter with Eva, turned to glare at the owner of the voice that had cut into their conversation. The object of everyone's attention, Ter Citrine, shot back a smile dripping with mockery.
“Oh dear, how strange? Does me sitting next to you two and chatting really offend your delicate eyes so much?”
“If you know so much, why don't you get lost?”
“How cold of you. And this is the future of House Opal, the heir to the Sword Saint? The future looks awfully bleak, wouldn't you say?”
Crackle!
Those two just could not meet without a power struggle. Sure, they'd fought constantly in the original story too, but in part one they'd barely crossed paths, so it never got this bad. Now that they were locking eyes at every opportunity, they growled at each other like they were ready to tear each other's throats out.
“Why on earth are you so obsessed with butting into our business?!”
“Pfft. Me, interested in you? Don't flatter yourself.”
Ter snorted at Chloe's outburst, then reached over and tugged on my arm as she sat beside me.
“I wouldn't waste a single breath on trash like you. He only tags along because he's with me—nothing to do with you.”
“You hear that, Solis? She calls you trash.”
“Solis, you son of a bitch! You're supposed to take MY side at least!”
“I take the side of women who are nice to me. I don't listen to lesbians who treat me like a pervert.”
“I swear I'm gonna beat you to death!”
Chloe's fist came up. For a second it looked like she was about to plant that clenched knuckle square in my face.
“Look over there. Why are they making such a scene?”
“They're fighting, aren't they?”
“Hoo...”
But causing a ruckus on a bus full of people would have violated her personal code, so Chloe took a deep breath, forced her temper down, and managed her image instead.
“More importantly, everyone, quit the bickering and get ready to get off. We're almost there.”
The bus, cruising along at a steady clip, gradually began to slow. A sure sign that we'd reached our destination.
Not that it mattered—I already knew what the midterm practical would be, so I fixed my gaze on the building coming into view in the distance, the stage set to become our examination hall.
“Wait... this is the Colosseum?”
“So this is where the country pits monsters against people in fights.”
Seeing this, everyone surely had a decent guess about how the practical exam would run.
The Colosseum.
Crowds upon crowds of spectators lined up outside, waiting to get in. We would step onto the arena floor as academy students and show our mettle against monsters.
That was the content of the first-year, first-semester midterm practical exam.
Screech!
The bus braked and rolled to a stop in the parking lot. The doors hissed open, students piled out, and Sylvia, having finished her headcount, called out at the top of her lungs.
“I will now announce the content of the midterm practical exam!”
At the crack of the instructor's voice, the students' scattered attention snapped toward her in unison. Anyone who missed this was only hurting themselves. Everyone wanted top marks, and above all, there were plenty of people desperate to avoid repeating a year—so they listened for their lives.
“The exam is simple. Defeat the monsters released into the Colosseum and prove your skill. That is all.”
An echo of ancient Rome's games. Beasts loosed into the arena to battle gladiators—except here, the beasts were monsters, and the gladiators were superhumans brimming with mana. It remained a popular sport in this world, and it was thriving in the Max Republic in particular.
“The exam will begin shortly. Details will be announced once you enter the arena, so proceed promptly!”
And so, at last, the big event of the first semester was underway.
How should I play it?
Wrap up the exam with a modest score? Or show them what I can really do?
Even as I mulled it over at the crossroads, my feet were already carrying me forward.
“So this is the Colosseum of the Max Republic.”
A hooded figure gazed out at the arena, seething with crowds. The place brimmed with life, overflowing with cheers and cries of excitement. The woman smiled at the hot pulse of it, felt with nothing more than a single breath.
“My master will be pleased.”
Pale green hair slipped out from beneath the hood and drifted on the breeze.
Soon, this very place would have its fervor and acclaim drowned in blood and screaming. The world would once more carve into this earth the name of one who carried the God King's blood.
“So please, wait a little longer. I shall soon prepare a stage worthy of my master.”
The seam between dimensions. The passage linking this world to the other realm stood ready to open; all that remained was to choose the place.
She set her footsteps toward the Colosseum, its heat washing over her like a tide.