Remember the Empire (4)
Attila stepped aside to give the two some space.
“Long time no see, kid.”
Lycaon greeted first. Vesta didn’t answer. He simply stared blankly at the man’s face.
“You’ve grown quite a bit in the meantime. You don’t look like you’re starving.”
A mocking smile curved his lips. Vesta found it unpleasant. As he offered Vesta a glass, Lycaon asked,
“Will you have a drink?”
“...No thought.”
“Why? Worried it’s poisoned? Don’t waste your energy on that.”
Since Vesta refused the glass, Lycaon shrugged and drank alone.
“What were you thinking when you sent the letter?”
Vesta used casual speech, unlike his usual polite manner.
“What’s the problem? You can’t send a letter to your comrade?”
“The letter arrived at the Khan’s estate. The Khan received your letter.”
“Arrow Princess? This is an honor. How is it—beautiful as the rumor? From what I heard...”
Whoosh—
Thud!
Vesta swung his fist. Lycaon’s head snapped back. Even after being struck, he laughed mockingly and wiped one nostril.
“What’s wrong? No blood. Still got that cotton-like fist. Surprising you survived with that small body.”
“Want me to give you another punch?”
Vesta’s eyes, fixed on Lycaon, were ice-cold.
“You heard from the leader that I owe the Khan, right?”
“Yeah. I heard from the leader. He seemed quite pleased. But when I heard him speak, it sounded a lot like the little brat I knew. So I investigated. He was quite famous, Baatar?”
Vesta frowned.
The new name that had been quite pleasing to him sounded unpleasant coming from the man’s mouth.
“So you sent a letter to the clan to get a definite answer?”
“Yeah. So the Khan can read it without issue.”
As it was, the letter’s content was fine. The problem was that the sender was the man in front.
As much as one knows the man, one can’t ignore him. The name Lycaon carried a danger for Vesta.
“Uncomfortable as it is, let’s move on. Now, I want to hear the main topic.”
“Yeah. Shall we talk about the main issue?”
“...This gladiator who moved over here isn’t just you, is it?”
“Oh, of course. The leader and I value talent recruitment highly.”
“Who?”
“Theo. The twins, and a few others.”
“Impressive.”
Vesta frowned. It was the worst selection.
“You had an uncomfortable relationship with the twins?”
“Asking because you don’t know?”
It was more than uncomfortable.
The person who made the twins not twins, the one who killed the younger brother, was Vesta.
“I sometimes talk about you.”
No need to hear the content. He would have spewed hatred and resentment.
If Lycaon knew Vesta was nearby, he would immediately draw his weapon and come running.
“But among people like us, there aren’t just a few such enemies.”
“...Yeah.”
He deeply empathized with that. Gladiators accumulated sins with every match.
Lycaon, of course, and Vesta were not free from that sin.
The bad ties that didn’t disappear even after leaving the arena felt like chains binding him to Vesta.
It was now enough.
“So, what are you gathering these social misfits for? You’re teaching the Empire’s strategy and tactics to the centaurs, right?”
Lycaon laughed mockingly.
“A big game is about to open, so it’s natural for the schemers to gather.”
After taking a large gulp from his glass, Lycaon said,
“I was thinking of bringing out the main topic.”
“Come over here, Vesta.”
“Eat shit.”
“Why? Did you forget your origins because the Khan raised you as a pet?”
Thud!
Lycaon’s face turned from Vesta’s punch. But his head snapped back, and he didn’t stop talking.
Vesta said in a low voice,
“It would be better to choose your words carefully.”
Despite Vesta’s fierce warning, Lycaon’s attitude didn’t change. He was still cocky and rude at the same time.
“Whether you like it or not. We are brothers raised in the same house. You are no different from a pathetic beast.”
—There is no human more wretched than us.
Vesta didn’t answer. Lycaon forced a response with his characteristic hazy eyes.
“We will be on the battlefield. You know that, right?”
—If there is any use for you and me. It’s catching people well. That’s it.
“Come over here. Look at these centaurs. Think about what they can do. These people can do anything, anything.”
Lycaon referred to the centaurs as “those”. He didn’t think of them as people. Rather, he thought of them as beasts or weapons.
Vesta, realizing this, sneered.
“Anything? Not funny. Trying to conquer the Empire?”
“Can do anything? Anything!”
“...?”
Vesta took a step back. It was because he saw the otherworldly thing in Lycaon’s eyes.
Fierce struggle. That endless struggle like hunger.
—Humans with such eyes will do anything.
It was a judgment based on experience.
“Are you a soldier? Cavalry alone can’t break the Empire.”
It was the answer that would come to mind if thinking logically.
It was true that the Empire suffered a crushing defeat from the prairie horsemen. But how much time had passed since then.
After the King’s army was defeated in a battle on the prairie, the Empire had come to fear elves and centaurs extremely.
So they built a wall across the prairie. They erected watchtowers.
Arrows couldn’t pierce the wall, and horses couldn’t bring down the castle.
Just as the Empire couldn’t conquer the prairie, the prairie couldn’t conquer the Empire.
“Well...”
Lycaon didn’t seem to think that way. Vesta looked at him with disgust.
“You’re not in your right mind. Or you never were.”
Had the originally smart head hardened?
As Lycaon looked at Vesta shaking his head, he said,
“Scared? Hah. You’ve gotten blunt.”
Speaking as if disappointed.
“The elf tamed you into a dog.”
“Careful with your words.”
“Kid. You’re an outstanding one. Not just outstanding, but small. Surviving in the arena for years as a small child is an unprecedented feat.”
It was a result Vesta hadn’t expected even.
He had wanted to survive even one more day, and those days had accumulated to reach now.
“Your greatest strength is being outstanding yet childish. Imagine if you fought on the battlefield for the next ten years. How strong could you become?”
Lycaon extended his hand.
“I will give you the battlefield.”
“Come to where you should be. Come back and fight. Remember your status.”
Vesta silently listened to Lycaon’s rant.
“Eat shit.”
Lycaon laughed at Vesta’s words. Then, suddenly, his expression changed.
“What a shame.”
His loosely relaxed body regained tension. Vesta realized that.
“...Shall we try?”
Lycaon was a sturdy man. He had a natural build and was trained. Just standing could threaten others.
Above all, he had a fierce aura. It would be dangerous.
The feeling one gets when seeing a unleashed fierce dog. The anxiety that it might cause an accident at any moment, or the precariousness, was felt from that madman.
A man like that showing hostility. Vesta wasn’t afraid. He just asked.
“Want to fight? I won’t dodge.”
“We haven’t faced each other as opponents before. Who would have won if we had?”
Kung.
The sound of stepping forward.
Lycaon swung his long arm. Vesta lowered his head to dodge the fist.
Lycaon was definitely a man who knew how to fight. He set up for an uppercut with his opposite fist targeting the lowered head of Vesta.
Vesta extended his leg. Kicking Lycaon’s knee while pushing his body back.
Lycaon’s fist grazed Vesta’s cheek.
“Would have been fun back then. But now you don’t look as pathetic as then.”
“You’ve become talkative. Not like you.”
“Yeah. I’ve aged too.”
Lycaon slapped Vesta’s thigh. Normally, he would lift the shin to block, but since Vesta’s weight was only half of Lycaon’s, he couldn’t block, and the leg would give way. Vesta dodged to the rhythm, then swept Lycaon’s leg as he extended it, and immediately stepped forward again.
Using the stepped foot as a pivot, he turned half circle. He extended his heel straight.
The rear kick hit Lycaon’s lower abdomen, and Lycaon didn’t hesitate, kicking Vesta’s calf with the opposite leg.
Thud—
Lycaon was pushed back a step, and Vesta had to regain balance.
The calf muscle hurt.
Not enough power.
Vesta’s technique was surprisingly accurate, but it didn’t give a meaningful impact to Lycaon.
Unlike Vesta’s specialty, sword fighting, hand-to-hand fighting is governed by strength and weight.
Compared to the sturdy warrior Lycaon, Vesta had only half the power. It was a miracle that they were fighting like this.
“You grew up, but still... Body too light.”
Lycaon poked at that point too.
“But the technique is the same.”
Lycaon smiled and raised the glass again. It was to stop the fight.
They already knew they didn’t intend to kill each other. That was because Lycaon hadn’t drawn his weapon.
“Since there’s still time, I hope your answer changes.”
“It won’t happen.”
“A real gladiator like you being used and discarded by elves at will is rare. Please consider my proposal positively.”
“You are ultimately human, a gladiator slave.”
“And as a gladiator slave, in the sense of being passive, like a sword.”
Lycaon said.
“The command is meant to be used on the battlefield to fulfill its purpose. Not hanging on a high official’s belt or waist.”
“I will wait for the day we stand on the same battlefield.”
From Lycaon’s eyes as he said that, conviction was felt.