The Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 2 – The Emperor of Two Silver Pieces (1)

Yelling was futile in Juan’s situation, however. He sighed as he looked at the clear sky where even echoes went silent. He was even angry at the clouds. He slowly stood up and looked at his body—skinny limbs and small, pale hands.

‘About nine years old?’

Juan’s first thought was that he might have returned to the past.

‘But I wasn’t this weak at this age.’

Based on the amount of mana in his body, his body seemed to have been reconstructed. Compared to when he was the emperor, most of his power had disappeared. All that was left was a measly amount of mana that could barely fill the body. It’d be right to say that he had physical abilities that were normal for his age.

Juan pondered over the types of magic that he could use. Magic was the basis of his former power, a power that had helped him ascend to the throne and conquer the world.

From magic capable of splitting the world to magic that could peer into different dimensions and create something out of nothing. All that magic still lingered in Juan's memories. To be exact, he had mastered all the magic, yet he couldn't use it because he had no mana. But Juan, who had reigned as the emperor, was born to lead and protect mankind. He was a master of not only magic, but also swordsmanship, hand-to-hand combat, tactics, and everything else required for battle. He had developed and pioneered techniques that transcended common sense, increasing mankind’s strength to a whole new level. And these incredible techniques remained intact in his mind.

Juan had once united the continent with his power, commanded all mankind, and subdued countless gods and demonic beasts. He had beheaded the god of war with a sword and pulled out the heart of the god of magic with magic. Their bodies had been his spoils. If he had more time, he could have made mankind invincible. But now, his former strength had escaped his hands like grains of sand, and there was nothing left in his current body. With his current strength, even ten million of him could not compare to his old self.

"Well, I don’t care..."

Juan lay on his back in the field, crushing the rustling cinders into dust. The clear blue sky signified that it was a good day to be revived, but also a good day to die.

‘Let's die again.’?

This was an unwanted resurrection. He didn’t wish to know what year it was or where he was at. He had lived his life without regrets. If he started to think about unnecessary things, he’d only regret it. If he found out what happened after he died and what the exact circumstances were, there was no way of knowing what he would do.

There were thousands of ways to restore his strength if he decided to do so. And if he did, Juan could dye the empire, the entire continent, and even the whole world red with fire and blood..

'There's nothing to stop you from doing it now.’ Juan heard a whisper in his head. Juan tried to ignore the voice as he slowly buried his consciousness in a deep slumber once more. He was then woken up by a different voice.

"Hey."

He woke up to someone kicking his leg. Juan, who had once been the emperor, opened his eyes slightly—he had never been treated like that before.

A man wearing a turban with a mean face was looking down at him. "Who are you? Did you run away because of the fire?"

Behind him was a carriage with many weak and scrawny-looking demi-humans from various races. Their hands and feet were chained.

‘Is he a slave merchant?'

Juan had banned slavery. Nevertheless, this was none of his business. Juan had never allowed anyone to stab him in the back either. He knew that no matter how hard he tried, prohibited acts would take place somewhere.

"Don't bother me."

The slave merchant was dumbfounded by Juan’s attitude, who turned his back on him. He kicked Juan's thigh one more time.

"Where are your parents? Are you alone?"

"My parents' well-being is none of your business. You ought to take care of your own parents first."

"You cheeky little punk."

The slave merchant heard Juan's answer and concluded that he had been abandoned, because he seemed crazy. Otherwise, there was no reason for a child to be lying naked in the middle of a burnt field. A few days ago, a huge fire had broken out on the Great Plains, leaving numerous tribes homeless. A child could be kicked out of their tribe to reduce the number of mouths to feed. The slave merchant dragged Juan, who wasn’t moving, and loaded him onto the back of the wagon. Juan saw the dirty feet of the slaves that were in chains, while they glanced at him curiously. The moment people stopped bothering him, Juan once again fell into a deep sleep.

***

Tantil was a yellow-colored fortress formed around a huge market in the southeast of the empire, and it blended well with the desert. In the market, spices, ceramics, and rugs from the southern region were commonly sold. But the most common thing sold were slaves. On the outskirts of the empire, there were many demi-humans who fled because they were abused by humans. There were only a handful of demi-humans that were successful in society. Even so, the humans or demi-humans caught outside the border were traded as slaves. And the Tantil Colosseum was the place where the slaves were most actively used.

"How many people are there in total?" the supervisor in charge of the slaves asked as he confirmed the condition of the new slaves.

"There’s a total of eight of them. Um... "

“Including the +1 written here? What's this?"

“Oh, I was just about to tell you about it. I had a chance to get another slave while I was on my way here.”

The supervisor frowned while looking at the slaves. They had lackluster and hopeless eyes. Among them, he found a boy with eyes so deep that he couldn’t see through them.

The supervisor raised the boy's chin firmly with his pen. The boy had hollow eyes and a bony figure. Seeing as how there was straw and traces of soot on various parts of his body, he must have been picked up from some random place.

“He looks like he’s about to die though.”

“Hehe, supervisor. Look at his hair. Black-haired guys are famous for being tough, aren’t they? And he has all his teeth. I checked him and found no scratches on his fingernails and toenails. He may not look all that great now, but he'll be useful."

The supervisor looked at the slave merchant, starting to get irritated. The slave merchant smiled intently and continued,

"The fire on the Great Plains caused many of the demi-humans to run away, so it's been hard to supply you with them. Didn't you ask for more slaves even if they’re of lower quality? If you really don’t want him, then just pay me for transporting him here...”

The supervisor ignored the slave merchant's words and took out a purse.

The slave merchant rubbed his fingers and showed four fingers, causing the supervisor to snort.

"Four for all of them?"

"Oh, stop joking around with me. That is just the cost of transporting this guy...”

"I have no intention of giving you that much even if you include that trash over there. One gold piece for the strong young men and eight silver pieces for the women. And one silver piece will probably suffice for that trash.”

"Just the tax for bringing this fellow in cost me five bronze. Besides, considering the distance I transported him over and the food and accommodation costs... I won’t have any money left. You should give me at least three silver pieces for him.”

There had been no accommodation involved, however, and the slave merchant just lied through his teeth.

But the supervisor flatly replied, "Then take the boy back. I never said I needed a child like him."

The slave merchant had a bitter expression on his face. He could probably get a little more money if he tried to sell him at the market. But he was exhausted after traveling through the Great Plains for days, and it would be troublesome to go around looking for a buyer now. All he wanted to do was take a good rest at his lodging.

"Then let's go with two silver pieces! I’ll settle with just the cost price! This…"

"Since we know each other so well, I'll make an exception and buy at your price this time."

The two shook hands with each other, while exchanging the same words they would use every time they met.

On this day, no one knew that two silver pieces had decided the fate of the emperor who had once conquered the world.

***

Juan woke up again because something entered his mouth. He was about to spit it out, but the watery porridge went straight down his throat. Even though he wanted to die, it would seem that he’d instinctively swallow when something entered his mouth.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a young elf woman with a haggard face. The woman was holding Juan and feeding him the watery porridge. The stone ceiling that he saw for the first time was covered with mold.

"Don't be sick, my child. Don't get sick. My child...." the woman whispered in Juan's ear. She looked crazy.

Then someone next to him said, "Kid, you must be surprised, but can you stay still for a second?”

He was a skinny man with round horns similar to a goat’s on his head.

"She's a little sick and you seem to have reminded her of someone."

A spoonful of cold porridge went into Juan's mouth again as he inadvertently swallowed again.

Now that someone asked him for a favor, he couldn't just spit it out. Juan closed his eyes. He felt something rough brushing against his body. It would seem that he had been covered with rags.

Although his life had been extended, the life of a slave wouldn't be an easy one. His body probably wouldn't last long.

"Damn it, like you’re in a state to sympathize with others….” A sarcastic voice was heard.

The goat-horned man next to Juan stood up with an angry look. The sarcastic bald man also stood up to face him.

"Do you think you can say anything just because you have a mouth?!"

"Let’s be straight here! Did I say anything wrong?"

When the goat-horned man jumped at the bald man, they caused a commotion. The slaves in the small room crouched to avoid being caught up in it. The goat-horned man was smaller than the bald man, but he wasn’t losing to the latter. Upon hearing the commotion, an armed soldier came running.

The soldier saw the fight inside the cage and pounded the bars with his spear. Only then did the two men fall back.

"You bastards must be itching to fight since you’re here at the colosseum, huh?”

The soldier poked with his spear into the cage as if wanting to stab them. The slaves screamed and ran into the corner. Seeing the frightened look on their faces, the soldier grinned and stuck his spear into the ground.

"Don't fight with each other just because you're itching to fight. You’ll be bleeding in another place. And you’ll be there way ahead of the others."

"…What do you mean by that?" asked the goat-horned man carefully.

"Think about why the Tantil Colosseum supervisor bought you guys, including those who were about to die."

The slaves started to feel uneasy. The bald man puffed in anger, pulled his knees together, and lowered his head. The elf woman hugged Juan tightly and repeatedly whispered as if to calm Juan down, "My child, my child."

Juan's consciousness was elsewhere before this. Tantil? Colosseum? They sounded familiar to him.

"Hey." When Juan opened his mouth, the goat-horned man looked at him, surprised.

"Is this Tantil? Is there a colosseum in Tantil?"

"You’re a little rude, huh...? Yeah. Tantil is known for its colosseum. Don't worry. They'll get booed if they make a little boy like you fight in the arena. They'll probably use you as an errand boy, since they need slaves to serve gladiators.”

But Juan was no longer listening as more questions popped up in his head. Tantil was the name of the land where he had first killed a god. It was the first land on which he had begun to build the core of mankind as the emperor.

Back in the days when god and man were fighting against each other, there was a god called Talter of Madness on this land. Talter would demand human sacrifices from his followers and loved watching the sacrifices kill each other, covering the temple floor with blood. It was madness and blood that filled Talter with power. Until Juan closed down the temple, Talter’s followers called the temple a colosseum. A colosseum had been rebuilt in that very Tantil?

Things felt strange to Juan. His heart, which had been fully devoted to the work of killing gods for all his life, was pounding weakly. However, Juan suppressed his beating heart.

‘I'm no longer the emperor.’

Juan bit his lips.

‘The emperor is dead. Killed by the hands of a man, and the one he trusted the most at that.’