Chapter: 41
When I opened the door, I found a guy standing with his arms crossed, looking all slouchy.
“Hello?”
Thinking he was a neighbor from the same floor, I greeted him with a smile. On the outside, I looked cheery, but inside my mind was racing with other thoughts.
‘Oh no, please don’t tell me he’s gonna ramble on like Pimax!’
Maybe it was my past experiences that made my thoughts head in that direction. Besides, that guy’s slouchy posture and disgruntled expression didn’t scream “I came to share good news!” at all.
“Are you two the poor souls who just moved in to replace Pimax?”
The dude babbled on with an attitude to match his slouch.
Hearing him, I felt like he was some kind of peddler or a cultist trying to convert me.
I was about to slam the door shut.
“I’m not buying anything! I already read the headlines, and I’m not religious!”
I rolled off that line out of habit, but just as I was about to close the door, he wedged his foot in and grabbed it with his hand.
“What nonsense are you spouting!? I’m asking if you two are the lucky replacements for Pimax!”
The door shook like it was in a tug-of-war. Just when I snapped back to my senses and was trying to slide the door open again—
Thud!
A strange little hand suddenly grabbed hold of the trembling door. It was way too small to belong to that guy.
“Hey—”
“Eek…!? B-Bianca?!”
The voice coming from beyond the door was surprisingly husky and definitely female.
As soon as I heard her voice, the previously tough-guy face of that man shrank back like a frightened little rabbit.
“Stop bothering the uninterested and get lost, would ya?”
“W-What are you even doing here…?”
“Because someone I care about is here, duh.”
“…! Oh, I see!”
The guy quickly took a step back from the door, bowing towards the woman named Bianca.
“Sorry for the intrusion!”
“Make sure you spread the word to the other idiots too. Don’t mess with the one I’ve got my eye on.”
“Y-Yes!”
Watching the guy run away like he just dodged a bullet, I turned back and realized the door had swung wide open because I’d loosened my grip.
Bianca, the one who showed up, was a tall woman, probably around 170 cm. She was slim but also nicely toned.
Her bust was decent, but the lower half was definitely more shapely. If Baekroo was a fancy high-class cat, Bianca gave off more of an alley cat vibe.
“Hmm – this is the place with ‘that swordmaster’, right?”
“Huh? The swordmaster?”
I tilted my head, confused by her words as Bianca’s eyes widened and focused on something behind me.
“Kyaaah! I knew I was right!”
Her gaze zoomed in on Iris, who was clinging tightly to me like her life depended on it.
“Did you come to see Iris?”
“Yeah! Exactly! Her name was Iris, right? Such a pretty name!”
Bianca chirped, looking as excited as a kid meeting a theme park mascot. If she wasn’t here to stir up trouble like some punk, I had no reason not to let her in.
“Well, if that’s the case, come on in! We haven’t been here long, so we don’t have much to share, but we can at least chat comfortably.”
“Thanks a ton!”
As I invited Bianca inside, Iris dug in even closer to my back, refusing to budge.
It didn’t seem like she was doing this because she disliked Bianca, since her gaze didn’t even flinch in that direction. It was more like a habitual clinginess.
I strolled to the living room sofa, Iris latched onto me like a snail to its shell. When Bianca took a seat next to me, I plopped down on the other side.
Iris decided to sit on my lap?
“Iris..?”
Not that I minded. Iris wasn’t heavy; in fact, she was so light that I even thought about boosting her food portions.
But what threw me off was how casually Iris settled onto my lap. It was like something was off, and I was almost oblivious to it.
“…?”
Iris looked down at me, her head cocked to the side in confusion.
“Ah.”
That’s when it finally clicked in my head why she was acting this way.
Every time there were slaves around, I would sit Iris on my lap because I was worried she’d get harassed, and it seemed like she learned that she should be on someone’s lap when sitting on a sofa.
“Iris, you can sit next to me. When there’s plenty of room, just slide over!”
I gently moved Iris to the seat beside me, and after a moment’s blink, she nodded in understanding.
“Haha, you two seem really close!”
Bianca chimed in with a cheery smile, clearly amused.
“Now, should I introduce myself? I’m Bianca, currently the gladiator occupying the highest floor in this arena.”
“….!”
The highest floor, a paradise where only the stars and the mighty gather.
Her claim to occupy that realm basically meant she was a ridiculously strong contender.
“Gladiators on the top floor can move freely between levels. I don’t even need to wear a slave collar.”
Bianca lightly tapped her neck, confirming that there were no decorative shackles upon it.
“By the time you reach those upper floors, a collar isn’t going to cut it to keep you down, and you’ll even have options to choose from.”
“Options?”
Curious, I asked, and Bianca just winked at me.
“Wouldn’t it be boring to spill all the beans at once? Reach the top floor yourself and see for yourself!”
“Aw, come on…”
Her words stopped abruptly like a TV show that cuts off right when it gets exciting, so I pouted a bit. But, Bianca broke into a big grin and added.
“- saying that is just bad luck, you know? Anyway, it’s gonna take you at least a few years.”
Bianca peered over at Iris, who had that dazed look still plastered on as she fixated on me. Bianca didn’t care that Iris was ignoring her and continued with her spiel.
“On top of that, whether you can arrive at the top floor in one piece is up in the air. So, Iris, how about you come up to the top floor with me?”
“To the top floor? Is it really that easy to climb up?”
Even though I was the one asking, Bianca kept her gaze glued to Iris as she answered.
“Yep, if Iris becomes my student, I can take her up to the top floor under the master-disciple arrangement.”
“Master and… student?”
“Haha! The truth is, I was blown away seeing Iris wield a sword and just had to track her down!”
Bianca chuckled, rubbing her neck in amusement.
“The moment I saw her mercilessly taking down magical beasts, I thought, ‘Ah! That’s the one!’”
Bianca hopped up from the sofa and shifted to sit right next to Iris, who still didn’t look her way.
It wasn’t like she was ignoring her; she seemed to be completely oblivious to Bianca’s presence. Bianca found this adorable and continued with a serious yet gentle voice,
“Iris, if you don’t already have a swordmaster, I’d love to become yours and help you make history with your sword. Want to join me?”
Iris simply stared at me without answering. Bianca held her silence, waiting for a response.
It felt like if I left things like this, it would be a moment of endless awkward silence, so I gently nudged Iris.
“What do you think, Iris?”
“Umm?”
Iris tilted her head, looking like she hadn’t caught a single word of Bianca’s proposition.
“Iris, if you don’t have a swordmaster yet, Bianca wants to be yours. If you follow Bianca— uh?”
Before I could finish, Iris shook her head and tightened her grip on my clothes.
‘Whoa…’
That gesture made it clear she wasn’t going anywhere without me, and it overwhelmed me with emotion. I quickly wiped away the waterfall of tears inside and spoke to Bianca.
“It seems Iris doesn’t want to part from me. She probably values me as her only family.”
“Hmm… that’s tricky.”
Bianca frowned a bit.
“You’ve already been sold, so I can’t take you to the top floor.”
“What? I’ve been sold?”
My mind immediately flashed back to the zombie I encountered earlier that day.
‘I thought I avoided that, but I’ve already been sold?!’
Cold sweat trickled down my back at the thought that I might lose Iris. Seeing my firm expression, Bianca made a calming gesture.
“Even if you’ve been sold, it’s just the rights that have been sold, not your actual self.”
“The rights?”
“Yep, here in the arena, once a gladiatorial slave gets popular enough, their rights get sold to someone wealthy or influential. It’s basically like a pass to treat you like a plaything.”
A wave of relief swept over me knowing I wouldn’t be dragged away.
“Phew… thank goodness. I was freaking out thinking I’d end up separated from Iris.”
“Hahaha! You two caring for each other is really adorable.”
Bianca laughed heartily then turned back to Iris again.
“If you follow me, you won’t have to worry about being sold off to those folks, and you can participate in the arena at your leisure, avoiding threats to your life. That means you can completely drop the slave life.”
Bianca continued, her tone soft and inviting.
“Plus, you won’t have to deal with those annoying power struggles like before.”
“Power struggles?”
“It’s just a byproduct of shoving strong fighters together on each floor.”
Bianca replied straightforwardly and then asked again.
“What do you think? Isn’t this a pretty sweet deal? Oh! And you get to learn swordsmanship from a genius swordmaster!”
