The Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 3 – The Emperor of Two Silver Pieces (2)

Today was the third day since Juan first arrived at the colosseum. The boy was laying still in the corner of the cave. He was surrounded by the noise of pickaxes and harsh breathing. There were ongoing construction projects to expand the colosseum’s underground dungeons. However, there was not enough light on the construction site, let alone equipment.

There were only broken or chipped pickaxes striking against the wall under the light of a torch. The colosseum was built on a strong stone structure, but this underground cave was dug into a layer of soil and rocks and had no ventilation or drainage systems in place.

Space in the dungeons was limited, as they were being used to accommodate the demonic and ordinary beasts that participated in the colosseum. Thus, they were making space to accommodate the slaves who were usually treated with contempt. Nobody was overseeing the actual constructions and arranging the layout. There were only guards that were stationed to make sure the slaves weren’t messing around.

Juan came to the underground cave to work like the other slaves. Although he was in no condition to be working, he was forced to come to the construction site because they could not let him wander around alone. Juan didn't do anything and just slowly awaited his death. The supervisor initially ordered the soldiers to throw Juan into the cave of demonic beasts, but the crazy woman stopped them. She screamed and hugged him tightly every time the soldiers approached Juan. The supervisor was not reckless enough to throw a woman into the cave of demonic beasts as well and waste his goods. Instead, he forbade Juan to eat.

‘Three days...’

Due to a lack of sunlight, Juan kept track of the days by counting the number of times he was dragged from the prison to the cave and vice-versa. For three days, Juan ate some of the woman's meals. Juan didn’t want to eat the food, but the woman forced it into his mouth. Juan's body was made of mana, but mana would constantly be consumed if he didn't eat any food. The woman's meal was just enough to keep him alive, but that was all. Juan was all skin and bones—he was malnourished to the extent that he was slowly but surely dying. Who would believe it if they were told that the revived emperor had died of starvation?

The hunger didn't bother him, but what really bothered him was his son's face that came to his mind every time he opened his eyes. Instead of the imposing and elegant look that Juan’s son had shown him all his life, it was an image of Gerard shaking in fear, with bloodied hands.

‘Gerard, if you are alive, are you also suffering?’

Juan refused to listen to what had happened after his death. Fortunately, the colosseum wasn’t a place where people spoke about such historical events. The words used here were simple and vulgar. Juan didn't have to care about them.

***

‘How much time has passed?’ Juan wondered. While the slaves were grumbling about when the meals would be served, a commotion came from outside. The clanking of chains, shouting, as well as the low, bone-chilling growls of a beast. The slaves that were digging stuck themselves to the walls out of fright.

"Hold it tight!"

A black wolf the size of an adult man walked into the cave. Its eyes were shining fiercely as if it had already been starved for several days.

‘A demonic beast.’

Unlike ordinary beasts, they were animals that had been transformed because of a god's curse or whim. Demons existed even among humans. Even now, when most of the gods had died, there were many demonic beasts that survived by reproducing.

"What? The cave is still under construction?"

The men who came into the cave together secured the beast's neck with an iron chain. Not only that, but there were two more men holding chains on both sides. The men looked around and talked. "Well, I think there’s enough space now, why don’t we just release it here?"

There were outpours of screams and pleas from all over the place. The men burst into cruel laughter. They didn't really mean to release it in the first place. These men weren't guards; they were slaves like the ones that were digging in the cave. However, they were gladiators who had been inside the arena several times. Gladiators who survived more than three battles were treated differently than ordinary slaves. Their status was just below that of the soldiers, and most of their duties were simply management tasks, physical training or armed training.

Among them, the “Champion," the highest-ranking gladiator, was treated like he had the same position as the manager of the colosseum. Therefore, commoners who found it difficult to live a normal life sometimes purposefully became colosseum slaves. One of them was a bald man who had just become a gladiator. Although he had arrived as a slave on the same day as Juan, he had been taken to become a gladiator before the other slaves because of the violent and wild impression he gave. The bald man was acting more violently than the others, as if he wanted to be recognized by the other gladiators. The gladiators, who saw the frightened reaction of the slaves, pulled the black wolf back with satisfaction. Because the demonic beast was pulled roughly, it twisted and growled. The starved wolf reacted sensitively to the fear in the air.

"Looks like ‘Butterfly’ is hungry," one of the gladiators muttered while looking around. Who would have expected a demonic beast to have such a name?

The slaves desperately looked away.

"Is there anyone who’d like to volunteer to help feed Butterfly?"

Of course, no one wanted to get involved with that demonic beast. However, the gladiator wasn’t going to just wait for a volunteer. The bald man pointed to some slaves.

"You, you. Come with me."

"Gasp, I-I have to work here! Over there! There's a guy who's not doing anything!" One of the slaves suddenly shouted as if he had been waiting for this opportunity before the bald man could even finish calling him out.

The slave pointed at Juan who was lying down on one side of the cave. Only then did the gladiators spot Juan for the first time.

"What the—? I thought that was a corpse."

"He... He’s alive! I-I saw someone feeding him this morning!"

"Wait, it’s not like I’m making you do anything dangerous, don’t be so scared... But why is this guy lying down like this? Is he sick?"

One of the gladiators approached Juan and kicked him on the leg. Juan's skinny legs shook helplessly in response.

"I feel like he’ll break if I kick him too hard. He’s all bones."

"Th-That’s not true! He may seem skinny, but he actually has some fat on his belly...”

"Shut that thing up."

The bald man quickly approached the slave, who kept shouting, and punched him in the face. The slave clasped his mashed nose and screamed.

"When did we ever say we're feeding humans to the demonic beast? What if it gets an upset stomach?"

Though it was the gladiators who had deliberately misled them, none of the slaves pointed it out. The black wolf approached Juan, who was on the ground, sniffing curiously. Then a woman's sharp scream rang out in the cave. "Ahhhh! My child! My child!"

It was the scream of the crazy woman. The pot she was carrying fell on the floor and soup poured out. The crazy woman came running and hit the wolf in the face. The demonic beast barked loudly at the sudden hit. The gladiators panicked and pulled the chain to stop the beast's rampage. They would be held responsible for the losses if the wolf went on a rampage and killed the slaves.

However, the woman constantly whispered, hugging Juan tightly without caring. "My child, I'll protect you. I'll protect you.”

Her hands clasped together like a hard lock, embracing Juan. The gladiators barely managed to calm the beast down after a while. It was natural for them to get furious.

"You crazy bitch...”

The bald man pulled at the crazy woman's hair. The crazy woman screamed and refused to let go of Juan and so Juan was dragged along with the woman.

"This bitch is really crazy."

The gladiators clicked their tongues at her reaction. She had crazy eyes, scattered hair and was constantly muttering words. She didn't look like a normal person at all.

"Is she crazy? It seems like the supervisor is just buying slaves thoughtlessly.”

"There's not much time left for the event, so these guys will be useful. They look good together, a corpse and a crazy bitch."

The gladiators giggled as they looked down at Juan and the crazy woman. Then one snuck a look at the crazy woman's body. The bald man quickly noticed his senior's gaze, and he grabbed the crazy woman's face and turned it side to side, showing her off.

"She looks alright even if she’s a little crazy, right? I think she'll look fine after washing up."

"As if we have the time for that.”

A cruel laugh spread among the gladiators. The bald man quickly forced Juan away from the crazy woman. As the crazy woman started screaming again, one of the gladiators hit her in the stomach. Only then did the woman become quiet.

"I’ll look after this guy," the bald man declared.

The senior gladiators exchanged glances. They chained the demonic beast tightly to a stone pillar.

The crazy woman was then led by the gladiators to a secluded area inside the cave. The bald man gazed at their backs while smacking his lips. He glanced at Juan in his arms—hanging like a corpse—and then dropped him onto the floor. The bald man murmured as if to gloss over his guilt.

"Since you aren't working, your mother should work for your share, don't you think?"

Juan did not answer. The bald man headed for the crazy woman, not expecting an answer from Juan. The gladiators were about to begin their advances on the crazy woman in their secluded corner when the bald man asked, "Hehe, seniors. It's okay for me to look, right?”

"You punk. A newbie ought to just patiently wait for his turn... Wait, what's up with him?" one of the gladiators asked. The group turned their heads back slightly and their eyes fell on the bald man. The bald man was flustered at the sudden attention, but soon realized that the gladiators were looking past him. Following their gaze, the man turned around to find Juan standing behind.

He was just a skinny boy that was standing there. The bald man—who had only ever seen him lying on the floor like a corpse since their first meeting—was a bit more taken aback than the other gladiators, but that was the extent of his surprise. However, the sight of Juan standing still felt somewhat foreign. An unpleasant silence spread among the gladiators. Someone whispered, "He's... alive, right? He’s not an undead or anything, right...?”

Juan didn't say anything; he didn't even look at them. He was just standing there. However, the gladiators stared at him while being very still, unable to even swallow their own saliva. It was as if someone was tightly gripping their necks. The slaves were completely still as well. The only sounds heard in the cave were the sound of low breathing and clattering of chains.

‘Chains?’

The same word flashed through the gladiators' minds as their eyes turned to the pillar where the wolf was tied. The beast trembled as it crouched. Then, it turned and started to shake violently. Each shake caused the clumsily-tied chains to rattle. Simultaneously, Juan raised his head toward the gladiators. Immediately, the beast broke the chains and ran free. The gladiators and the slaves scattered around while screaming.

But the wolf wasn’t running towards the gladiators or slaves—it was running toward the exit.

1. At this point in time, we’re unsure if there are specifically demonic beasts or just demons in general existing amongst humans, since the author used the term ?? (translated as demonic beasts) here. This will be updated as we find out in the story along the way.