Rise of the Blood Prince: From Slave to Emperor

"The Chira tribe member won again?"

Rocom said with his hands clasped behind his back. Liscal was looking at him with an unpleasant expression.

"That's right. His skills have improved dramatically recently."

"Aslan even has the talent to teach... What do you think? What's your opinion?"

"I can only apologize."

Liscal bowed his head deeply. His goal had been to get Aslan beaten to death, but he'd completely failed at that. Moreover, followers had even emerged around him, making it even harder to do anything now.

"You may be at fault, but this doesn't seem like something to view that way alone. No matter that he only faced young combat fighters, those movements... that's not coincidence. He's already created a technique. What you'd call a genius."

"He's not just a genius. He definitely learned something. The way he handles bows too. It seems he learned something in the Maran Kingdom."

"That would be the case. But it wouldn't have been boxing or combat sports, right? What royalty in the world learns to fight with fists? And in the Maran Kingdom, which is said to be a pioneer of magic? That wouldn't have happened. I could understand bows or swords, though."

"Yes..."

"He had talent and learned through fighting. That's how we should see it. So, Liscal."

"Yes."

"Make sure to control things so the gladiator slaves don't get enchanted by that guy. You're the manager of this Rocom Arena, Liscal."

"Understood."

"And Isaac and Oben were guys whose time had already come to an end. No injuries either?"

"Recently they've had almost no injuries. Isaac and Oben were originally strong."

"Right. They were. So the results they're showing now are just something I'm grateful for. That's something I should thank Aslan for. But the other slaves can't be like that."

"Yes. I'll keep that in mind."

"And I'm thinking of returning the money I received."

"Which..."

"The money I received to deal with Aslan. There's no way now, is there?"

"Still..."

"There isn't. Where would I bring a combat fighter to beat that guy? At least not among those under 20."

"If we search other districts..."

"Go that far to bring someone? And would there be anyone in other districts who could beat that guy? I don't think so."

"..."

"Liscal. I can just return the money."

"It's not about the money but about master's connections..."

"It seems our Rocom family isn't the caliber to advance to the capital."

Rocom smiled broadly. Liscal thought that smile looked somewhat bitter. Rocom laughed and then patted Liscal's shoulder.

"But we can make money instead. Look at that Aslan carefully. He's already raking in money."

"Are you seriously thinking of developing him?"

Liscal asked. Aslan's popularity was growing day by day.

The performance of throwing bottles.

His pretty appearance.

Unique fighting style.

Plus his winning streak.

Because of these elements, Aslan had become more popular than main-level gladiators.

It was like he was born to be a gladiator. So the time had come for Rocom to seriously think about Aslan too.

"What do you think?"

"Outstanding talent. However..."

"However? Is there something that bothers you? I think if he just keeps growing like this, we could make him the star of our Rocom Arena. Though he hasn't fought gladiator matches yet, didn't he show the possibility that he'd do well at those too? I heard his performance during the recent rebel suppression was amazing?"

Rocom said with glowing eyes. Liscal nodded in response to those words.

"But there's still something that bothers you?"

Rocom asked again. He found Liscal's reaction puzzling.

"Tell me. Don't drag it out. Liscal, you're someone far from things like jealousy and envy, aren't you?"

"Thank you for always evaluating me highly."

"So tell me quickly. Why does something bother you?"

"Alcohol."

"Alcohol?"

"Yes. Don't you know the fate of gladiators who like drinking?"

"Hmm..."

At the mention of alcohol, Rocom stroked his chin for a moment. Several situations came to mind. After organizing his thoughts briefly, he spoke again.

"Right. That's true. You'd know best about that part."

Then a strange expression appeared and disappeared on Liscal's face. Gladiators who like alcohol see their performance plummet at some point. Liscal was such a case too. During his active days, he drank heavily and his performance dropped significantly.

Still, he was lucky.

He retired with all his limbs intact.

However, he didn't achieve his goal.

Liscal's goal was to save enough money to spend the rest of his life comfortably.

But he was still working as a slave overseer. Though the work was easier than when he was a gladiator, his circumstances couldn't be considered very comfortable.

"Yes. Aslan drinks too much."

"Isn't that also the part that drives the audience crazy?"

Rocom said with a laugh. Just thinking about it was funny. He drinks that much poison and still wins while fighting. At first he wondered if it was coincidence, but now he'd defeated all the notable skilled fighters.

Rocom evaluated Aslan's abilities very highly.

He thought that to catch him, someone like boxing king Baskun would have to make a comeback.

But there was no fighter of that skill level among boxers under 20. There were a few boxers who could compete if it were adult division matches, though.

"Moreover, he gets hit too much. He's holding out because he's so tough, but... I'm worried."

"A flower that wilts quickly?"

"That's right."

"I think so too."

Rocom grinned.

"?"

"But you know, Liscal. The more Aslan drinks, the more he gets hit, the more his popularity will rise. Has there been a gladiator who gained popularity this quickly recently? It's unprecedented in the youth division."

"That's true, but..."

"Right now, just watching might not be bad either. It does seem like the blessing of the god Airs is shining on him."

Airs, the god of gladiators.

It was also the name of the city.

Here, they used to express that gladiators on winning streaks were receiving Airs' blessing.

"Why are you like that? You don't look pleased."

Rocom asked.

"No. Too much on a flower that wilts quickly..."

"It doesn't matter if it wilts quickly. He's earning that much money. You know why? Many nobles have started betting money on Aslan's matches."

"But..."

"You don't have to come watch matches to bet money."

"Ah..."

"Since Aslan is so unusual, word seems to have spread quickly. Nearby nobles seem to be making bets about it."

"Then..."

"Right. Those commissions are quite profitable. Even if I return the money, I can recover it quickly. It's regrettable that we can't advance to the capital, but still. So just leave that guy as he is now. It would be good if he keeps winning without collapsing quickly, but it doesn't matter if he doesn't."

"Understood, master. I'll leave him as he is now."

"No. No. Don't just leave him alone—there are some requests, right? Support those too. A flower can't wilt too early."

"Some of those are quite difficult."

"Like what?"

"An independent training ground..."

"Is that difficult?"

"It's already sufficiently independent. No one goes near them."

"So make one for them. There's space, isn't there?"

"Yes."

"And they can't use the dining hall because of that odd-eyed girl?"

"Since Aslan always wants to take her around..."

"Isaac and Oben don't mind either?"

"Barbarian blood flows in them. They don't seem to care much."

"Then give them a separate one. And tell them to pay attention to food too. Now your mission isn't to kill Aslan. It's to manage him well so we can keep him alive and use him for a long time. Got it?"

"Yes!"

***

"Twenty-four?"

Aslan was looking at Isaac with a surprised expression. He was shocked after hearing Isaac's age.

"Yeah. What about it?"

It was a visual he couldn't understand at all. Twenty-four. No matter how you looked at him, one-armed Isaac, who definitely looked to be in his forties, was said to be only twenty-four. What was more shocking was that Oben was a similar age.

Though they were still young, both were already treated as veterans and has-beens at Rocom Arena. That's how difficult it was for gladiator slaves to survive in arenas.

"You're only twenty-four but the most senior at the arena?"

"Only? Twenty-four is like being a grandfather in this business. Most gladiator slaves die before twenty."

"So how old did you think we were, boss?"

"Uh..."

"How old?"

"Twenty-three?"

"Well... we do look young for our age."

"..."

Isaac and Oben were calling Aslan "boss." After the rebel suppression, they'd become much closer.

Aslan spoke casually to them. And the odd-eyed girl Wilis naturally mixed with them too. They spent most of their days in the separately prepared training ground.

Wilis learned archery and the Innate Mind Method from Aslan. She also learned the basics of combat techniques.

The rest learned combat skills and the Innate Mind Method.

"At Wilis's rate of archery talent, she'll catch up to boss soon, won't she?"

Wilis had talent for archery. And she used the Innate Mind Method very well too. Its power was stronger than when others used it.

Though it was a body trained by various odd jobs, she was still a growing girl. Naturally, she shouldn't be able to properly draw a bowstring. But she was drawing it properly. That meant she was properly drawing out the effectiveness of the Innate Mind Method.

Though she wasn't at the level of drawing high-grade bows like the lifon bow Aslan used, she was now skilled enough to handle ordinary bows.

What was still lacking was speed.

But given enough time, she was becoming skilled enough to hit almost every stationary target.

"There's still a long way to go. You need to know how to shoot while moving, how to shoot in windy places, and you might need to shoot quickly."

"That much..."

"But you're doing well."

Then Wilis looked at Aslan and bowed her head. Wilis was very taciturn. About as much as Chira.

He didn't rush her because he knew this taciturnness was because she'd lived that way her whole life.

The day when she'd properly open up would definitely come someday.

***

Six months had passed since Aslan had his first match at the arena. Aslan was still doing well as an undefeated popular gladiator.

The same was true for his other companions.

Isaac, Oben, and Chira—none of them had lost even once.

Especially Chira's already good build had gotten even better thanks to eating well from continuous wins. Still, the one who'd shown the biggest change was none other than Wilis.

Wilis, who had been in a dirty state, became very clean and pleasant to look at. Because she'd become too pleasant to look at, she went around with cloth covering half her face. The biggest change was in her body type.

Some of it was because she was growing, but the biggest cause of change was improved nutrition. Thanks to eating well, she'd grown taller and gained muscle. Her height was about 160cm.

Since she was still growing, if you expected more growth, there was a possibility she could grow to 170cm.

And another person who'd changed greatly.

That was Aslan.