“You don’t seem to be in a good mood.”

 

“Who? Father-in-law? I guess he’s going through a mid-life crisis. The same also happened to our father.”

 

“… No, I’m talking about you, Ruby.”

 

Would you be in a good mood if you were me? Do you think I enjoy sitting next to you?

 

This b*stard had no conscience.

 

The audacity of him had me shaking my head and laughing to myself. This conversation was just so ridiculous. “Don’t say it like that. Why wouldn’t I be in a good mood? I’m having so much fun right now. You don’t have to glare at me like that. I’m good at managing my facial expressions, you know.”

 

My life must be one hell of a comedy to anyone watching.

 

“… Am I glaring at you?” Cesare, surprisingly, didn’t let much of anything show on his face. The faint look of confusion was gone within the blink of an eye.

 

“Actually, why don’t you put a smile on your face?” I hoped my sneering wasn’t that noticeable. “Your brother-in-law, who will most likely become the King of the North in the future, will appear at any moment, so shouldn’t you be showing your good side to him?”

 

Cesare didn’t say anything further. Instead, he just kept glancing at me while fiddling with the rosary in his hands.

 

His constant peeking was especially annoying today, but I decided to just put up with it since I didn’t want to hear him any longer.

 

Before long, the loud trumpets signaling the start of the match reverberated throughout the arena, but the rambunctious shouts and cries from the spectators drowned it all out as the entire coliseum filled with the crowd’s excitement.

 

My eardrums were about to burst. They were definitely going to burst.

 

Despite the fact that this was the moment I had been waiting for, I felt somewhat indifferent.

 

I hadn’t even thought about what would happen after this game was over.

 

I had nothing to lose anyway. Whatever happens, happens, no matter if I worried about it or not.

 

Everything is meaningless in the end, after all.

 

The first batch of monsters unleashed on the battlefield were Behemoths. They were animal-like demons of tremendous size and power, whose special ability was bewitching humans into giving in to one of the seven deadly sins, the sin of wrath.

 

They were ferocious and fearless creatures, unstoppable when angered, and they looked like a strange mix between a rhinoceros, a hippopotamus, and a dinosaur. The monsters rushed out into the stadium and the jeers of the audience became even louder. I think I understand now why the people of this kingdom had so many anger management issues.

 

The crowd’s hollering and cheering, the Behemoths’ shrieking and screeching, all of it became too much.

 

There were so many Behemoths down there, how on earth could these people contain their anger? Did the cries of these monsters not trigger their wrath?

 

As if everything I knew about the monsters did not matter in the slightest, the players, who had been waiting for this moment, dauntlessly jumped into the fray with their holy swords drawn. The swords had been declared sacred by the priests during a holy ritual before the start of the game, and they clanged as the men boldly and confidently faced the beasts.

 

The shouts of the audience crying for blood, the roars of the demons, the sounds of metal and flesh meeting each other and the blinding lights of divinity sealed in the swords releasing and bursting forth like lightning strikes—everything made me nauseous.

 

“Kill it! Kill it!”

 

“Where are you looking at, you stupid b*stard?! You’re the disgrace of our family!”

 

up and cut it off!

 

here, don’t even think about

 

hysteria was

 

else seemed to crave

 

human desire to see disaster happen was the same no matter what world I

 

the bloodbath. And yet, when the last

 

that had taken down the last monster standing

 

and taunts aimed at the men who were getting dragged

 

them to recover. That’s too bad,” Cesare said as

 

this man actually capable of feeling

 

was at a loss for words so I replied back cheerfully, “Why didn’t you bring Enzo, then? I’m pretty sure he would have jumped

 

crushed his arms while fighting here like those poor

 

when I started to wonder if the corners of my mouth would be stuck in this

 

allow it even if that punk had

 

trying to get sympathy from me? I know damn well you wouldn’t have participated even with

 

Father approved of you coming here so that you can take this opportunity to get a grip. He would’ve preferred that much better,

 

You know how much

 

of me as your real family, you wouldn’t have pimped me out five times.” All I could do was laugh at my harsh reality. “Right, I’m not even

 

have been different if I was? Would

 

daughter of a courtesan, after all, so Father and

 

“Ruby…”

 

couldn’t make sense of and his copper-toned face was twisted into a look I’d never seen

 

been amusing to me if only I had the energy left to care. So I turned back

 

dust in the air and the stones on the ground had disappeared and been cleaned up. I wondered what other types of monsters today’s match had in store to

 

that, the atmosphere was quite different

 

their way without thought, but today’s monsters made

 

audience quieted down, the gloomy chill in the air making everyone’s hair stand on end. If yesterday’s match felt like an action movie,

 

to

 

take you

 

madness hadn’t

 

were standing on to battle the monsters was overrun with ghouls. Their gray, decayed skin looked awful and

 

platform, but they didn’t seem to be injured. Rather, they seemed to have been engulfed by the strange mist

 

happening on the ground, but whenever a sword or horse accidentally flew towards the edges of the platform, towards the

 

Cesare, unfortunately, and other high-ranking priests didn’t seem to be affected

 

being seated so high up while all the players were down on the ground made it so that every single thing they did could be seen. But now I understood why. It

 

shouting their lungs out. The ghouls had been steadily killing and tearing apart the players, but the crowd didn’t seem to care whatsoever. The sight of humans dying only fueled their enthusiasm. None

 

the men down there fighting so

 

something made me halt. Someone had refilled it.

 

that someone had done that annoyed me for some reason, so I pushed the basket away and grabbed the

 

“That’s rum,” Cesare said.

 

“So?”

 

“… It’s strong.”

 

me drunk. Didn’t you tell me to have some earlier

 

purse his lips. Perhaps he realized he was being contradictory,

 

“Really? How so?”

 

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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