Chapter 12: Horus Gladiator Troupe (5)

Chapter 12 – Horus Gladiator Troupe (5)

Horus was setting up the matches for the next gladiator match.

“It might be best to use death row convicts this time. The Barakal Gladiator Troupe is only sending out three people. Those petty bitches.”

Horus spat as he looked at the list of participating gladiators.

“Then we should put Wallen, Asval, and Katan to face the convicts, Troupe Leader. Their conditions aren’t that good recently, so it might be good for them to warm up with convicts.”

Donovan spoke next to Horus while drinking wine. He often gave advice next to Horus as he set up the match list. Donovan was the Horus Gladiator Troupe’s main attraction as well as their very first gladiator. As such, he was implicitly allowed to play that role.

“Wallen, Asval, and Katan.”

Horus wrote down their names. It was the match list for the gladiators that would fight one-on-one with the convicts.

‘Fighting with convicts is a piece of cake.’

It was practically no different from an execution match. You would just have to take on the role of the executioner and satisfy the audience with a gruesome death. Only in extremely rare cases could the convict defeat the gladiator.

A lot of the gladiators mooched off Donovan, and in return, they got set up into good matches.

“I’ll set you up as the final match. The opponent is Barakal Gladiator Troupe’s slave gladiator.”

“Leave it to me, Troupe Leader. I’ll let his blood spray everywhere when I finish him off and make them faint.”

Donovan was famous for his gruesome matches. He toyed around with the opponents even after he was decided as the victor and slowly made them draw their last breaths. In the end, the objective of a gladiator match was to be a ‘spectacle’ and not a ‘match’. Donovan was a gladiator that understood that.

Creak.

The door suddenly swung open. Donovan and Horus looked behind them.

Urich was standing in front of the door.

“Urich?”

Horus scowled a bit. Meanwhile, Donovan blatantly showed hostility.

“This isn’t somewhere you can be, newcomer.”

“There’s no reason I shouldn’t be allowed in here. We’re both hired gladiators.”

Urich took a step closer.

“No, we’re different. Quite. Different. I’m the main attraction here, and you’re an unknown gladiator.”

“Haha, then I just need to be the main attraction from now on.”

Urich came in and sat on the chair facing Horus.

“If you want to fight, fight outside. I’ll let it go if it’s just with fists.”

Horus shook his head. Urich laughed while drinking the wine on the table.

“Hey, Troupe Leader Horus. I don’t plan on fighting him. I’m just interested in the match list as well.”

After hearing those words, Donovan kicked the wall hard. With its loud ‘Thud!’, it also startled the gladiators outside.

“Don’t even think about messing with the match list. Fuck off before I kill you.”

Veins rose up on Donovan’s face. Urich raised his feet on the table as he crossed his arms.

“I wasn’t talking to you, Donovan. I was talking to Horus.”

Horus thought for a moment and then looked at Donovan.

“Calm down, Donovan. Let’s at least hear him out.”

Horus was an intelligent person. He also worried about the increasing influence of his main attraction, Donovan.

“Put me in the final match,” said Urich.

At that moment, Donovan grabbed a chair and threw it at Urich’s side.

Shatter!

The chair broke into pieces, and splinters flew in all directions.

“Troupe Leader Horus, are you going to keep listening to that nonsense?”

Horus leaned and went up close to Urich.

“Urich, the final match is neither yours nor Donovan’s. It’s the most important match.”

“That’s right. The final match is the most flashy and exciting match. That’s how we bring back exhilarated people to watch again.”

“So you already knew. If you understand, please go.”

Horus tapped on Urich’s shoulders.

“Five people.”

Urich talked while raising his hand, fingers outstretched. Horus slowly turned his head.

“What do you mean by five people…?”

“I’ll fight against five people. Whether it’s convicts or gladiators.”

“Stop joking.”

“If we extensively promote a 1v5 match, people will at least come out of curiosity. Just think about what would happen if I win. Those people that had no interest in gladiator matches would pay money to come see who the gladiator that defeated five people was.”

“If you die in a boring way, it would be an embarrassment.”

“Die? No, I’m going to win. Who do you think I am? I’m Urich—The Urich. I’ve never lost a fight whether it’s against five or ten people.”

“Fighting against many people outside is different from fighting against many people in an arena. There’s nowhere to run in a limited space. You will have to take on multiple people attacking you at the same time. You already have enough to become a hit gladiator even if you don’t do this suicidal act.”

Horus thought of Urich highly. He was a gladiator who won two 1v2 fights in a row. If they were to talk about his talent, he was a top-class gem of a gladiator.

‘Even if he didn’t rush like this, he would’ve quickly become a gladiator that surpasses Donovan.’

Horus thought of putting Urich up as the next main attraction. Donovan was an aging gladiator and was tough to deal with. It was also unappealing for a gladiator to have an influence on the match list.

‘The 1v5 match can’t happen. Urich is only saying that because he doesn’t know anything. He probably had an instance of winning 1v5  by using the surroundings to his advantage. That’s the only reason he’s talking so confidently like that.’

Horus shook his head.

“Troupe Leader, I’ll take a step back. Put him in the final match. 1v5 as he wants.”

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“Donovan!”

Horus quickly stared at Donovan, who laughed while showing his teeth. Urich’s eyes widened as he looked at Donovan.

“Wow, I didn’t know our main attraction was so kind. Thank you. Troupe Leader. There’s no problem now, right? Set up my match nicely. Make sure to heavily promote that it’s a 1v5.”

Horus frowned.

‘Shit. I was too nice to my gladiators. I heard that they start to act up more if you’re nice to them. This is exactly that.’

It was too late. Horus couldn’t stop this flow.

‘If I think about this calmly, it’s a good proposition as long as Urich doesn’t pointlessly die. It’s also his decision to endanger himself. I honestly don’t think he’s going to win, but…’

Horus signaled for Urich to come closer.

“Urich, I’ll set up the final match as you wanted.”

“I’m glad I came here. I love everything here from A to Z.”

Urich tapped on Horus’s belly. Horus took a deep breath.

* * *

In the backyard of the tavern that the Horus Gladiator Troupe were staying at, the gladiators were practicing. If they were lazy with their practice, their lives could be over. A gladiator that doesn’t take care of himself died quickly.

‘One more drop of sweat means one less drop of blood.’

It was a saying that goes down not only for gladiators, but also for soldiers and warriors.

“Urich, it’s good that you got an attention-grabbing match, but that wasn’t it.”

Bakman, who was in the middle of his spearmanship training, spoke. Back home, he was also a fisherman who had hunted whales with a spear.

“What was?”

Urich answered back while training his body. It jolted every time he did a pushup.

“Why are you doing a 1v5? There are rumors about you everywhere. A 1v5 in an arena is no different from committing suicide. Cancel it now while you can. I feel bad because I feel like I sent you into that deadly situation.”

It was Bakman’s plan to put Urich out into a more flashy match than Donovan. He wanted to raise Urich as the main attraction to take away Donovan’s influence. And because of Bakman’s popularity, there were more and more gladiators that supported Urich.

“You guys don’t know me. Who I am. Where I’m from. You guys wouldn’t be able to imagine it.”

Urich did a pushup with one hand then hit the ground to stand up. With that bounce, he did a flip in the air. It was flexibility and agility that didn’t fit his frame.

“It’s good that you’re confident, but it’s also good to differentiate between recklessness and confidence, Urich.”

“The civilized are so scared. You guys run away before things happen just because you’re scared.”

“We can tell even without doing it. The barbarians in the North also pointlessly resisted for ten years. In the end, they are in ruins. The South that surrendered in a year is prosperous and becoming civilized now.”

“What will you do if I break your prediction and win?”

The axes spun in Urich’s hands. He really liked his new axes.

“I won’t say anything about your decisions in the future and follow you.”

“Hah, you’ll regret saying those words. It’s not easy to follow me.”

Urich laughed. He threw an axe with all of his strength, embedding it deep into a tree in the backyard.

“Hey, you bastard! I almost got hit!” a gladiator that was doing pull-ups on a thick branch yelled.

“Ah, sorry, sorry. It’s fine since you didn’t get hit, right?”

Urich spoke while waving his hand.

* * *

“He’s fighting five people? I’ll be glad if he doesn’t die in a boring way.”

“Did you see him last time? They’re saying he’s the guy that won two 1v2 matches in a row. He’s not an ordinary guy.”

“Did they say his name was Urich?”

The arena was a great recreational facility. People hated bleeding but wanted to see others bleed. They enjoyed the comfortable pleasure of sitting on top of the wall and watching the gladiators flounder.

Murmur, murmur.

People paid the entrance fee and entered the arena. Amongst them, there were wealthy merchants and nobles mixed in.

VIPs sat in separate seats and looked down on both the gladiators and the commoners.

“Mr. Horus, Mr. Barakal. We look forward to a good match.”

The city’s lord spoke to both Troupe Leaders. They showed their manners by bowing.

Lords welcomed gladiator troupe visits. There was nothing better than a gladiator match to ease the dissatisfaction of the masses. The more bloody and gruesome the matches were, the more excited the masses got.

“I don’t quite understand the final match. It’s a 1v5. If the final match ends in a boring fashion, there will be a lot of disappointed people,” said the city lord.

Barakal glared at Horus.

“That was Troupe Leader Horus’s idea. He said he was confident that it would be a hit.”

Barakal signaled Horus to answer for himself. Horus took a breath and spoke.

“The gladiator named Urich is a very skilled gladiator. Whether he loses or wins, it will not be a boring match.”

“You will have to keep those words, Mr. Horus. The markets are empty today because so many people came over here, curious about the final match. They were curious how one man would defeat five people.”

Horus opened his hands and spread his arms, then bowed deeply.

“I welcome you to look forward to it, Your Lordship.”

The lord nodded after hearing that and poured wine for Horus and Barakal. He handed it over to them.

‘My eyes are never wrong,’ Horus muttered as he drank his wine. He saw potential in Urich.

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‘I’m good at these kinds of bets.’

He looked down at the dreary arena.

The sand was scorching, excitement was growing, and the gladiators had fierce looks in their eyes.

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