Why Did You Save Us?
"Why did you save us?"
It was a question loaded with profound meaning for them. Were we saving them just to use and exploit them like the Bastrey Count, or was it out of pure intentions? To be honest, the reason I rescued these gladiators was because they were pretty.
"I saved you for my own needs."
I briefly considered lying, but I decided to tell the truth. Lies that get exposed are only good for people you won't see again. Besides, in our current situation, I held all the power. There was no strong need to deceive them.
"I figured as much."
Macey nodded calmly. Her reaction was surprisingly detached. I'd honestly expected her to look at me with disgust. After enduring such horrors in the arena, developing a hatred for men wouldn't be strange at all.
"People who smile kindly and say, 'I didn't need a reason to save you,' are all hypocrites. The Bastrey Count was exactly like that."
Macey had been thoroughly soaked in the world's bitterness at a young age. She seemed to prefer my honest words. She's incredibly rational. We should get along just fine.
"It's a fact that you saved us, Walker. Thank you again for saving Delphinium."
Macey spoke in a bittersweet tone, glancing at the light-purple-haired girl clutching the blue-haired one. The light-purple one was the twin older sister, Lilac, and the blue-haired was the younger, Delphinium. They were identical twins who differed only in hair and eye color. Like twins with a color-swap skin.
But can identical twins really differ like that? I had no idea.
Delphinium had lost both arms and legs. Even in the modern world, someone that disabled would struggle to survive. Without excellent welfare systems, they'd live like the walking dead. In the Solary World, welfare didn't exist—or if it did, it wasn't for commoners—and the disabled were seen as society's rejects.
Lilac hugged her sister tightly, venting her rage in sobs. She'd cried so much that no tears came anymore.
"No matter how hard we tried to heal her, we couldn't do anything about the severed limbs."
"No. Just keeping her alive is a miracle. As long as she's breathing... there has to be hope."
"Well said."
Macey glanced back and forth between her fellow gladiators and me. Her expression looked like someone on the verge of speaking but holding back.
"Something on your mind?"
"Um... you said you saved us out of necessity, right?"
The other gladiator girls flinched at Macey's words. They seemed to sense what she was getting at. Some fidgeted anxiously, while others looked resigned.
"Is it what I think it is?"
Macey was sharp, as expected. I nodded.
"It's true that I had sexual services in mind."
"Sexual services... quite an elegant choice of words."
Macey and the other gladiator girls' faces were surprisingly impassive. They were all so passive overall. Like hens trapped in a coop, destined to lay eggs their whole lives until they were slaughtered for meat once they were done.
The gladiator life must have completely shattered their wills. Not hard to understand.
They were birds with broken wings, living only for today. The only one showing any real resolve was Macey.
"We know our situation well. Even if we're thrown into the world as mere slaves, there's almost nothing we can do. And since we're escaped slaves now, if we're caught in Bastrey territory, it'll be the death penalty."
Death penalty would be lucky. With the Bastrey Count's personality, he'd torment them right up to the brink first. In a territory where that one-eyed bastard was knight commander, the lord couldn't be decent. And that arena was his handiwork, they said.
"We have no choice. But I want to know one thing. If the 'sexual services' you mean are like what happened in that arena..."
Macey glanced at my eyes. Her dark pupils held an unfathomable shadow, steeped in the darkness of her past.
"Kill us here. We can't go through that again."
"Don't worry. It's nothing like that."
I drew a clear line. But Macey didn't fully believe me. Neither did the other women. They were still like porcupines bristling with quills.
But I wasn't impatient. Time was on my side anyway.
"Is that so? Then what exactly?"
"I'm recruiting a knight order right now. I fired the previous one entirely. You'll be my new knights."
"......"
My bombshell left the air icy. Like playing the national anthem in a hyped-up club.
Macey's expression twisted oddly, as if trying to grasp my true intent.
"Not a metaphor—I'm serious. I'll make you my knight order."
I reaffirmed it. Then one of the quietly watching gladiator girls spoke up.
"We're weaklings. Halfwits who couldn't even kill a goblin properly and nearly got violated. If you're just making us a joke... I'm sick of that life. I'd rather kill myself."
"Henesia's right. We're weak. Gladiator was just a ridiculous role forced on us because people love watching us get humiliated."
Macey backed her up.
"I won't deny that I chose you for your looks, not your skills. But I have no intention of training my knight order to be weak enough to get ravaged by goblins. Though explaining it here won't make you understand."
I decided to skip the tedious talk for a more convincing method.
"Think what you want about my offer—it's your choice. I won't force anyone to stay."
I pulled a pouch from my inventory. It was stuffed with gold coins. I flipped it over, spilling them onto the ground. The clinking coins gleamed beautifully in the light.
"!?"
The gladiator girls jumped at my performance. Except for Lilac, still sobbing over her fainted sister, all eyes locked on the gold.
"Anyone who wants to leave, go. Those who join me, take one coin. That's your signing bonus."
The girls buzzed.
"Is that real gold?"
"No idea... I'd have to have seen it before."
"I got sold for one of those."
"You went for more than I thought? Were you a virgin?"
"Think he'll really give it?"
"No way... Even if he does, how hard will he work us? Might end up in a brothel bald from lice."
"Still, better than nothing. If we run, we'll just end up whoring in some thug-filled whorehouse anyway. No real skills."
"My hometown got razed by bandits. Nowhere to go back to."
Their reactions varied, but all eyes were glued to the gold.
The first to grab a coin was Henesia, the curly redhead beauty.
"We got nowhere else anyway. The Bastrey Count just used us up and paid nothing. Even if it's the same, getting paid changes everything."
"Good choice. Get in that carriage."
I pointed to the one behind me. Henesia boarded without looking back at the others. Inspired, the rest rushed for coins. In just three minutes, most were in the carriage.
The holdouts were Macey, Lilac, and Delphinium. Lilac clutched her fainted sister, weeping, while Macey pondered to the end.
"To be honest... you don't seem like a saint, Walker. Just my gut."
"Good instincts."
I didn't deny it. No need to play nice in front of Macey. She had a sharpness beyond her years—which was probably why she'd led the gladiators.
"But like Henesia said, we really have no options. Um... if it's not too much, one request?"
Suddenly, Macey knelt before me. She bowed low and kissed my boot. Her dignified poise showed resolute determination.
"Use me however you want, Walker. But those two... please protect Lilac and Delphinium fully. They're pitiful girls. Too tragic for them to walk our path."
Macey pleaded without even glancing at the gold. Amazing. I'd never seen someone so devoted to others. They weren't blood-related, so how?
"Why go this far for those sisters?"
"Without them, I'd be dead already. Their smiles are the last pillar holding my life up. If that's shattered... I have no reason to live."
Despite Macey's plea, just admiring those two beauties without touching them didn't sit right. She wouldn't budge until I answered.
If I ignore her and take them by force... Macey would break for sure. Not the ending I wanted. I pondered how to claim the sisters.
Then Lilac strode up to me boldly. Her eyes bloodshot from crying, she flattened herself beside Macey and slammed her forehead into the ground. It was so sudden I was startled. Her forehead split open.
"Lilac!"
Macey gasped in shock.
"I beg you! Avenge my sister... get revenge on the Bastrey Count! I'll do anything for that!"
She banged her head repeatedly. Horrified, Macey tried to stop her, but Lilac wouldn't yield. Her desperation bordered on madness.
This is a good sign. My harem light just turned green.