Luo En pondered for a moment, seeming to have some understanding.
Astraea pressed the advantage. “See? Even Miss Amy has taken a liking to you.”
“Cough, cough. Teacher Astraea, you know me.”
“Know what?”
Luo En’s expression turned solemn. Though it was hidden beneath his helmet, the little elf could sense that he had grown very serious.
“I like things that are both small and big.”
Small and big?
Astraea, still processing, froze for a moment. Then she remembered how she had to look down and couldn’t even see her own feet.
‘Ah, so that’s it.’
The little elf understood. Luo En was teasing her again.
But after more than two months together, her resistance to him was maxed out! She wouldn’t fall for his direct attack so easily!
Thump, thump. Her heart pounded heavily.
Though her face remained expressionless, a blush crept up to the tips of her ears.
It must be too hot, right?
Yes, that had to be it.
Astraea had completely failed to notice that autumn had already arrived.
After a bit of teasing, Luo En stopped thinking about it and turned his mind back to the Knight Tournament. He had never participated before, and he looked forward to it with quiet anticipation. The tournament had been passed down from the time when the All-Father walked among men. If he could achieve something here, how glorious would that be?
Luo En had even heard that sub-tournaments were held on the front lines of the Great Expedition.
The bustling crowds began to part to the sides of the street, and more and more fully armored knights appeared in the center. Knights as tall as Luo En or even taller gathered together, forming a river dominated by blue. That river surged forward and gradually flowed into the Royal Capital’s Grand Arena.
Faced with such a spectacle, Luo En had no choice but to pick up Astraea and set her on his shoulder.
The combination of a knight and a heteromorph was somewhat eye-catching, but most knights, upon seeing the collar around Astraea’s neck, said nothing. At most, they cast a curious glance or two. Fortunately, to show respect for the All-Father, all knights wore their armor that day, so Luo En couldn’t sense most of their gazes.
They arrived at the Grand Arena of the Royal Capital.
Apart from the Royal Palace, this was the largest building in the capital. It was made entirely of white marble, inscribed with self-cleaning and reinforcement magic arrays, said to have been personally constructed by a legendary knight under the All-Father. Over the centuries, generation after generation of archmages had maintained and updated it, making the Grand Arena the most坚固 structure besides the Royal Palace.
Only two ordinary soldiers stood guard at the entrance. They didn’t check anyone’s identity—every citizen of the capital could come to watch the Knight Tournament that day.
As for someone trying to assassinate the king on that very day?
If an assassin dared to strike the king in front of so many knights, what difference would a few soldiers at a checkpoint make?
So even when the little elf passed by, the soldiers only glanced at her and paid no further attention.
Astraea’s eyes sparkled as she gazed at the magnificent Grand Arena. Although the treehouse architecture of the Elven City-State had its own charm, she had to admit that the humans’ Roman-style buildings had more flair—even if the people of this world had no idea what Rome was.
“Ooh, they even have gladiators to watch. How extravagant,” Astraea said, sitting on Luo En’s right shoulder, her little legs swinging back and forth. She watched the chaotic gladiator melee in the arena with keen interest. “Just asking—has the Human Kingdom ever had a gladiator rebellion?”
How dare this mere heteromorph speak recklessly about the Kingdom?! Such blasphemy! The servant guiding Luo En flushed red with anger. He wanted to call a priest over to purify this reckless heteromorph on the spot.
But the decent annual salary of his job kept him in check.
Especially now, with grain prices rising higher every day. If he dared to shout, he’d probably lose his job immediately.
Today was the Kingdom Knight Tournament! That heteromorph was a pet brought by a knight—and even a knight’s pet outranked a servant like him.
Life was just a matter of earning a meal. Why should he pick a fight with a clueless heteromorph? The All-Father would surely forgive him…
Astraea had no idea what inner turmoil the servant was going through. She was simply disturbed by the gladiatorial combat taking place in the arena.
This was no longer just a show. Astraea had seen with her own eyes a gladiator slit another’s throat, and the audience erupted in cheers.
“A gladiator rebellion? Yes, there was one… but it was quickly suppressed by the knights,” Luo En said.
Gladiators were merely physically strong. They were forbidden from practicing the knightly path, so naturally they were no match for the Kingdom’s regular knights. Some exceptionally talented gladiators might grow to over two meters, but their strength and reflexes were a full level below those of proper knights. Besides, knights had armor—what did gladiators have? The enslavement nails hammered into their foreheads?
“Luo En, you have to tell me—these gladiators are all prisoners, right?” Astraea asked, as if trying to comfort herself.
If they were just prisoners, it wouldn’t be that bad. It might be a bit questionable on human rights, but in a society like this medieval one, human rights weren’t a thing anyway. Astraea figured it wasn’t strange given the context.
But Luo En shattered the little elf’s illusion without hesitation. “Prisoners…? Maybe. Originally, gladiators were indeed prisoners. But most of today’s gladiators are descendants of the first batch.
“Well, of course, slaves raised by nobles can also become gladiators. But such gladiators are the private property of that noble and are often used for betting fights.
“See those gladiators on Field Number Four over there? One of them is a slave belonging to that annoying noble.”
Astraea followed Luo En’s pointing finger and indeed saw a muscular beastman. On a platform at the opposite corner stood the noble who had tried to take the little elf when they first arrived at the capital.
“And every year, the Kingdom replenishes the gladiator ranks with prisoners. In short, the mainstream gladiators nowadays have been bred over multiple generations.”
Luo En told the little elf everything he knew about gladiators, and her expression gradually darkened.
“You mean some humans are taught gladiator-related skills from birth, and they know nothing else but fighting?”
“That’s not quite it…” Though he could see the little elf’s expression was off, Luo En hesitated a moment before deciding to tell the truth. “Uh, I’ve heard—my father told me—it might not be true.”
He stole a glance at the little elf. Seeing her glaring darkly at him, he quickly continued. “The education for young gladiators does include ideological training, but it’s not about the glory of gladiatorial combat. It’s… knightly virtues.”
“Why?”
“Because some spectators enjoy watching the look on the gladiators’ faces as their consciences torment them while they kill each other.”
Crack.
A crisp sound rang out. Luo En realized that Astraea had been gripping his shoulder plate tightly with her hand. And that sound…
She had unconsciously squeezed too hard and dislocated a finger bone.
Pain shot through her brain. Astraea looked at her hand, which was twitching from the nerve reaction.
Elves had sharper senses than humans, so they felt pain more deeply.
This was the worst injury Astraea had ever suffered in her life. The intense pain made her almost unable to speak.
‘But what about those gladiators? When their bodies are pierced, what do they feel inside?’
Crack.
Another sound. Astraea used her other hand to forcibly snap the finger bone back into place.
The pain subsided, replaced by boundless anger. The little elf’s state even frightened Luo En.
“Teacher Astraea?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
The little elf took a deep breath and forced down her anger. She knew that rage alone was useless—she needed to stay calm to find a solution.
‘Right. Maximus is the Regent Duke. Can he free these gladiators?’
The clever Astraea immediately thought of that tall knight. Then she realized a problem.
If it were possible to free them, why hadn’t the Regent Duke tried even once in the past fifty years? Or perhaps… the Regent Duke himself enjoyed this brutal spectacle?
Relying on others was foolish. Astraea bit her lower lip and cast a simple healing spell on the finger she had just realigned.
“Luo En. Gladiatorial combat is barbaric, isn’t it?”
Astraea turned back to ask her big knight boy.
Luo En, who had already sat down in a private box guided by the servant, couldn’t help but shiver.
He suddenly missed the five voices that used to chatter in his head. At least he could extract some useful answers from them.
But at the same time, Luo En rarely took a moment to think seriously about Astraea’s question.
On Field Number Four, the beastman let out a roar. The gladiator standing opposite it glanced back at a pair of twins behind him, then charged at the beastman with his spear.
Blood splattered on the spot.
The beastman’s fist snapped the gladiator’s spine, but the gladiator’s spear also plunged deep into the beastman’s heart.
Another cheer erupted from the audience. Luo En could see the face of that annoying noble turn extremely ugly.
“It truly is barbaric,” Luo En nodded. Watching the twin siblings crying over the dying gladiator, he seemed to understand what Astraea was angry about.
But… could an elf even feel sympathy for humans? Luo En didn’t know. He had never interacted with other elves.
Still, his father had once told him when he was young that gladiatorial combat was a barbaric practice.
The little elf’s expression softened a little. She let out a sigh and said, “Why is this Human Kingdom so evil?”