The Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 6 – The Awl in the Pocket (2)

"Juan, starting from tomorrow, don't work in the cave. Instead, come straight here," the supervisor told Juan.

"Huh? What? I don't want to," Juan replied.

“...” The supervisor decided that he had to correct Juan’s tone and attitude once he started working at his office. "It seems you don’t understand what I’m saying. I’m saying that I'm going to assign you easier jobs from now on."

"It's okay. My life is fine the way it is," Juan told the supervisor.

"No, your opinion doesn't matter. You're a slave anyway, so you just have to do as told,” the supervisor asserted. He hadn’t thought that he would need to explain things in such detail.

Juan looked closely at the supervisor with his arms folded. The boy seemed to be in deep thought and answered shortly, "You’re right about that. But what if I refuse to obey?”

The supervisor pressed down on his forehead to suppress his headache and the urge to shout. Now that he took a closer look, Juan was just a lunatic with a lot of guts. However, even if Juan was crazy, it’d be reckless to waste that talent of his. The supervisor decided to take the gentle approach instead of forcing the boy. If he was going to make Juan the champion of the colosseum, nothing good would come out of being on bad terms with him after all.

"You don't have to swing pickaxes into the wall all day. Isn't swinging a pickaxe tough work? You don't have to do that anymore. You can eat delicious food as well. Not porridge, but actual food that you can chew on. You can get fresh air, get some sun, and wash up, alright? I'll also teach you swordsmanship myself. Actually, no, I’ll talk to Rekto myself and get him to teach you. You could become a gladiator.”

The supervisor explained repeatedly in the simplest way possible so that Juan could understand. Nevertheless, Juan did not seem to be interested at all. However, as soon as the supervisor brought up the topic about being a gladiator, Juan showed some interest. The supervisor caught onto that and said, "Gladiators. You've seen a lot of gladiators, right? They’re really cool, aren’t they?”

"As far as I know, gladiators are able to enter the cave freely," Juan replied.

"Was that it? You have an acquaintance in the cave, huh? I'll let you enter the caves freely," the supervisor assured Juan.

Juan knew how frightened and nervous the slaves got when the gladiators were around. He thought that if he was a gladiator, no one would dare to bully the crazy woman or goat-horned man thoughtlessly. He no longer felt a sense of duty for humans. But an inexplicable emotion was sprouting in Juan’s heart when it came to those two. It was the same emotion he felt toward those he had once trusted wholeheartedly. Suddenly, Juan's heart hardened as he recalled the feeling of betrayal he had felt from those whom he had once believed in. Juan had been afraid to face their betrayal, and had even given up his will to live to avoid it. That feeling of betrayal was still lurking, curled up somewhere deep inside Juan, eating away at him.

‘When did you become so weak, Juan?’?Juan felt like he could hear a mocking giggle ringing in his head. Even those whom he loved, cherished and protected for decades with his sword and power had betrayed him. So why was he trying to hold the sword again for people he’d known for only ten days right now?

Juan's hands were covered not only with the enemy's blood, but also with his own blood. Juan bit his lips. He didn’t care if he had no choice but to live on. But he didn't want anything more than that. Nonetheless, the empty void in his heart longed to go back to the past. Juan then asked the supervisor, "How much am I worth?”

"What? Haha, I used two silver pieces to buy you, but now... I would gladly pay a gold piece. No, I wouldn't mind buying you with a bag of gold pieces. From my perspective, you are the future champion."

Juan then asked, "Can you release two slaves then?"

"What?" the supervisor replied.

"It's a crazy woman and a goat arle. Let them free, and I'll do as you please," Juan answered. Juan no longer wanted them to get closer to his heart. But if they remained around him, then he was bound to inadvertently open his heart. The supervisor looked perplexed. There was no way he would actually buy the boy for a bag of gold, despite what he had said. It was clearly beyond the supervisor’s power to free two slaves. To begin with, the owner of the slaves was Daeron—the manager—not the supervisor.

"That's a bit...” the supervisor trailed off.

"Forget it then. I’ll just stay in the cave," Juan replied as he gave up quickly. It wasn't a bad idea to rot away in the dark cave either. Living in the darkness without knowing each other's names and not knowing when they would die. He didn't even want a better life to begin with.

The supervisor’s eyebrows furrowed. Juan still acted high and mighty even though he was so considerate towards him. Other slaves would have been eternally grateful and crying tears of joy. As a supervisor, he should be the one acting high and mighty, but here he was, lowering himself before Juan. He felt like Juan was looking down on him.

"Are you mocking me?" the supervisor asked as he slammed the desk. Juan didn't answer but stared up at him. The supervisor saw the dagger stuck in his desk and unwittingly placed his hand on the sword at his waist. He had realized that Juan might attack him with the dagger. Just the thought of it made cold sweat run down his spine.

Of course, Juan had no such intentions. Juan then apologized, "I apologize if I’ve offended you in any way. Can I leave now?”

Juan’s attitude further fueled the supervisor's anger. His sword shot forward at Juan's face. The tip of the blade twitched right in front of Juan's eyes as the supervisor sneered, "Should I teach you some manners by gouging out one of your eyes? Will you learn humility when your tongue is cut in two? Or maybe I should slice your head off, since it’s so far up your ass anyway?”

The supervisor's sword slowly moved down Juan's cheek. The sharp blade left a line of blood on Juan's cheek as drops of blood ran down his face and rolled off his chin. However, Juan did not budge at all. His expression was the same as when he had opened the door to this room: emotionless with a pinch of irritation.

The supervisor was so nervous that he swallowed his saliva. He felt that Juan wouldn’t even blink if he swung his sword and beheaded the boy.

He could do practically anything to a skinny boy slave with his authority. But the supervisor stood still for a long time. It would be a waste if he acted recklessly and lost such a talented boy. Then, he thought of something. A better way than simply forcing Juan to obey.

"Arrogant brat. I guess there’s no helping it since you’re from outside the border. I'll teach you some manners and how to act civilized," the supervisor muttered as he lowered his sword. He smiled slyly.

***

Clang.?The iron bars closed. Juan looked at the bald gladiator who locked the door beyond the iron bars. The bald gladiator spoke, "So, the cheeky little one was finally sent here, huh?"

A ring of keys twirled at the tip of the bald head’s finger. He was all smiles. All the gladiators had been flogged for letting the demonic beast escape. It was to be expected since they had let the wolf demon run away while messing around during work. But the bald head blamed it all on Juan. So when he saw Juan being taken towards the prison, the bald man told the soldier he would take Juan instead.

"Do you know how much trouble I'm in because of that weird trick you pulled back then, hmm? I don't know what kind of despicable stuff you learned from outside the empire, but...”

"I've never learned the art of making other people pee," Juan curtly replied.

The bald head turned red from embarrassment and shouted, "Shut up!"

"Did I touch a sore spot? On the way here, it seemed like you were being ostracized by the other gladiators, but if you think it's because of that one peeing incident, you're mistaken. A reputation isn’t built overnight. And there were two more people who peed their pants besides you back then...” Juan continued.

"I’m warning you, shut up! You son of a...” The bald head pounded on the iron bars with a spear as he warned Juan. As soon as the sharp, metallic sound rang, the screams and howls of demonic beasts burst out from every direction. The bald head stood up straight, smiled stiffly and said to Juan, "Do you hear that? There are plenty of beasts in this hallway that can’t wait to have a taste of your flesh. You sure hit the jackpot since this place is much cozier than your usual cave. Oh, it smells a little like animal poop, though."

This was a dungeon that kept demonic beasts and monsters in captivity. Once the slaves expanded their cave to a certain extent, they would pile up bricks to form the same layout as this place. The corridor’s complex structure was designed and properly equipped to allow the beasts to enter the colosseum whenever the organizers wanted.

Juan heard the cry of a beast behind him. It was a low-pitched growl that rattled one’s bones. Juan turned around. With the sound of chains scratching the floor, a pair of bright yellow eyes suddenly rushed toward him. However, the beast was only able to take a few steps.

It was kept hungry, thirsty, and in despair, all in order for a seed of madness to sprout in its mind. The demonic beast roared and shook its front feet while trying to catch Juan. However, the chain tightly restrained it. The bald head told Juan, "That’s your roommate. You've seen it before, right?"

It was the wolf demonic beast that had entered the cave before. However, it wasn’t in a good state, being much thinner and covered with wounds now. It seemed recapturing it hadn’t gone smoothly.

"He especially likes the flesh and bones of young children since they’re squishy and fragile. That's why we named him ‘Child Predator,’" said the bald head.

"Didn't you call it Butterfly last time?" Juan asked.

“…”

Seeing as how the bald head didn’t answer, the child whatever thing was definitely a nickname he had just come up with.

The bald head continued, "Well, you have no idea how fearsome the world is yet, seeing as how you always try to argue back. But since the supervisor told me to fix your manners...”

The bald head pulled on a chain that was near the entrance of the prison cell, rattling it. His actions allowed the wolf to take a huge stride forward. The chain became longer than before, and the demonic beast was much closer to Juan now. The distance was close enough for Juan’s legs to reach the demon if he lay down facing away from the demon.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.?The beast's cry became more impatient and desperate than before. Juan looked into the wolf’s eyes. It no longer remembered how it had run away after sensing Juan’s presence last time. The demonic beast had already lost its mind from starvation. The bald head taunted, "Are you finally scared? If you kneel and beg me, I'll put in a good word with the supervisor for you."

The bald head giggled and poked Juan in the back. However, Juan looked back at him with contempt. The bald head didn't like that, so he loosened the wolf’s chain even more.

Clink! The demonic beast took a step further. Forget lying down, Juan barely had enough space to sit now. The bald head peeked inside to check Juan’s state. He judged that the boy finally felt threatened as Juan stood still and stared at the beast, barely moving a finger. The bald head then said, "You'll fall asleep smelling the demonic beast’s breath today.”

Juan beckoned to the bald head. The bald head thought that Juan was finally scared and about to beg. But as soon as he leaned over, Juan pulled him by the collar. With a bang, Juan smashed the bald head’s face against the iron bars, breaking the latter’s nose. Juan let go of his bald head with a cheeky smile and said, "Your breath smells worse.”

The bald head grabbed his bloodied face and glared at Juan. The wolf began to run wild as it smelled blood. Hearing its cries, the demonic beasts in the other rooms also began to run wild.

The bald head stared at Juan and began to loosen its chain again. The chain was released bit by bit, and the demon's teeth approached Juan's eyes. The bald head laughed hysterically as he imagined Juan being scared and snickered, "Go on, pee your pants! You can even poop them if you’re not scared shitless!”

The bald head’s back was covered in cold sweat, however. The supervisor had only asked him to put Juan in a room with a demonic beast that was tightly chained up. What he was doing now was far more dangerous and way beyond his authority. Now, there was barely enough space left for Juan to stand. Juan could feel the demon’s hot breath on his face as the demon’s teeth clattered violently.

Then, something that no one wished to see happen, happened.

Clang! The starving beast was so excited at the sight of food right before it that it forcefully pulled on the chain tied to its neck.

Clang! Hearing that sound, the bald head tried to tighten the chain on the demonic beast.

Clang! Crack! With the sound of the chain breaking, the wolf rushed toward Juan. The iron bars bent outwards easily as the beast crashed into them. The shock caused the bald head to be knocked back and fall on his ass.

The bald head hastily looked up. However, what he saw was the scene of Juan’s left arm almost torn off at the shoulder as the demonic beast chewed on it ravenously.

"A-Aaaaah!"

The bald head then ran away without looking back, shouting at the top of his lungs.